BARON  FRANZ  PORZIG. — Frontispiece. 


A  RIDE  ON  A  CYCLONE 


BY 


WILLIAM  .ftOSEA  BALLOU 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

BY 

H.  CLAY  COULTAUS. 


CHICAGO,  NEW  YORK,  AND  SAN  FRANCISCO 

BELFORD,  CLARKE   &   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 

LONDON,  H.  J.  DRANE,  LOVELL'S  COURT,  PATERNOSTER  ROW 


®r   1889. 
"  All  bights  ~  Reserved.  ^ . 


TO  MY  MOTHER. 

I'LL  FIND  THEE,  LOVE. 

Some  time  when  all  this  world  has  passed 

Through  its  long  day  of  life  and  light, 
Though  spirits  kindred  all  are  massed 

Beyond  approach  of  storm  and  night ; 
Though  e'en  invisible  thy  soul, 

Far  from  the  eyes  of  mortal  screened, 
Somehow  I'll  find  thee  in  thy  goal, 

Though  deeps  of  space  have  intervened. 

Or  if,  in  other  orbs  than  ours, 

New,  wondrous  shapes  replace  our  mould, 
And  thought  knows  not  of  days  and  hours, 

Nor  age,  disease,  nor  heat,  nor  cold  ; 
Though  in  some  body,  new  and  strange, 

All  inconceivable  to  man, 
I'll  find  thee,  love,  whate'er  thy  range, 

Of  worlds,  or  forms,  or  Nature's  plan. 

WM.  HOSEA  BALLOU. 


M12007 


A  RIDE  ON  A  CYCLONE. 


i. 

"  Hello  !  help  !  What  in  the  name  of 
wonder  does  this  mean  ?  Sam,  I  say ! 
Come  here,  you  black  varmint !" 

The  shouts  and  cries  of  the  man  had 
an  immediate  effect.  A  scuttle  was 
heard  to  raise  near  at  hand  and  a  fright 
ened  negro,  followed  by  several  cham 
bermaids,  passed  through  the  opening. 

"  Come  here  you,  Sam,  and  explain 

7 


8  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

this  mystery.  How  did  I  get  into  this 
strange  predicament  ?  How — ?" 

"  Now  you  hole  on,  sah  !  I's  not  Sam. 
I's  Jonas,  I  is.  What  you  doing  on 
Mars's  roof?  That's  what  1  want  to 
know.  I'll  call  the  purlice,  I  will." 

The  man  half  arose  in  his  b^d  and 
looked  around  in  a  bewildered  way. 
"  You  black  varmint !  what  do  you 
mean  by  saying  you  are  not  Sam  and 
that  you  will  call  the  police  ?  Well,  by 
Jove !  you  are  not  Sam.  Go  and  call 
my  man,  will  you  ?  That's  a  good 
fellow." 

"  I'll  jess  call  Mars  John,  I  will,  and 
we'll  trow  yer  off  de  roof,  we  will." 


"Now  you  hole  on,  sah  !  I\s  not  Sam.  I's  Jonas,  I  is.  What 
you  doing  on  Mars's  roof  ?  That's  what  I  want  to  know.  I'll  call 
the  purlice,  I  will." — Page  8. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  g 

The  excited  black  turned  to  carry 
out  his  threat,  when  a  gray  head  and 
stern  face  appeared  above  the  scuttle ; 
then  a  tall,  dignified  gentleman  emerged 
and  surveyed  the  scene  in  amazement. 
He  advanced  a  little,  looking  at  the  bed, 
or  rather  mattress,  and  the  face  of  the 
man  under  the  clothing,  growing  more 
and  more  indignant. 

"  My  name  is  John  de  Land,"  he  said, 
as  if  the  announcement  ought  to  be 
sufficient  to  cause  the  culprit  to  take 
to  his  heels  in  a  panic.  "  What  species 
of  vagabondage  is  this?  A  man  in 
bed  on  my  roof  in  the  broad  light 
of  the  morning !  Explain  yourself, 


IO  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

if    you    can,    sir,    before     I     call    the 

police." 

"  I'm  not  on  your  roof,  you  old 
hypocrite !  I  am  in  my  own  bed,  on 
my  own  roof,  if  anybody's.  My  name 
is  Franz  Porzig,  baron.  May  I  in 
quire  what  you  and  these  gaping 
servants  are  doing  here,  and  why  my 
valet,  Sam,  let  you  in  before  I  am 
up?" 

The  situation  was  interesting,  and 
when  the  baron  gave  his  name,  so  well 
known  in  financial  circles  as  the  head 
of  an  immense  cattle  syndicate  in  the 
West,  the  old  gentleman  appeared 
amused.  "My  dear  Baron,"  he  re- 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 1 

marked,  "  rise  a  little  and  look  around, 
and  repeat,  if  you  can,  that  you  are 
on  your  own  roof.  So  many  house;; 
join  that  you  may  have  moved  your 
bed  during  the  restlessness  of  a  hot 
night." 

The  baron  arose  again  and  gazed 
about  him,  more  and  more  dazed.  The 
sun  scorched  his  eyes  and  he  was  be 
wildered  by  the  vast  network  of  wires, 
brownstone  mansions,  and  spires  visible 
far  around  him  on  all  sides.  He  rub 
bed  his  eyes,  beat  his  head,  gave  it  up 
and  reclined  again.  "Oh,  well!"  he 
murmured,  "  it's  a  dream  ;  I'll  sleep  it 
out." 


12  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

"  What  do  you  say?"  demanded  Mr. 
de  Land,  kindly. 

The  baron  opened  his  eyes.  "  It's  a 
dream.  Go  away,  spectres.  This  is 
not  New  Dresden,  nor  Idaho,  nor  the 
Porzig  ranch ;  there  are  no  cattle  visi 
ble,  no  horses,  no  sheep.  Go  away.  I 
dream." 

"  Baron,  arouse  yourself !  This  is  the 
city  of  New  York.  You  are  on  the 
roof  of  a  stranger,  though  not  a  stranger 
to  your  fame.  New  Dresden,  Idaho, 
has  filled  many  pages  of  the  morning 
papers  for  two  days.  It  was  destroyed 
night  before  last  by  the  most  terrible 
cyclone  ever  known.  Every  inhabitant 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  13 

is  supposed  to  be  dead  and  your  name 
heads  the  death-list.  Every  vestige  of 
your  buildings,  every  head  of  your 
stock  has  been  wiped  out.  Arouse,  I 
say,  and  explain  yourself." 

The  affrighted  baron  sprang  from  his 
bed  like  a  madman  and  gazed  at  de 
Land,  his  night-gown  blown  by  the 
fresh  ocean  breeze.  "Impossible,  sir! 
Impossible !  I  went  to  bed  in  New 
Dresden,  last  night,  twenty -five  hundred 
miles  from  New  York.  How  could  I 
have  been  transported  so  far  in  so 
short  a  time?  Go  away!  I  am  no 
lunatic." 

"  But  look  around  you." 


14  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

Porzig's  gaze  again  swept  the  hori 
zon  and  he  gasped  for  breath.  "  It  is 
New  York,"  he  sighed.  "  I  am  mad, 
then,  not  dreaming." 

"  No,  my  friend,  you  are  neither  mad 
nor  dreaming.  You  are  sane,  and  what 
is  better,  by  happening  to  be  away  from 
home  you  alone  have  escaped  the  fury 
of  the  cyclone.  Come !  You  have  had 
a  jolly  night  of  it  somewhere  in  this 
vicinity  and  your  companions  have 
played  a  practical  joke  on  you.  Let 
me  give  you  some  clothing  and  break 
fast  and  then  we  can  talk  calmly  over 
the  situation." 

The  party  descended,  and  after  For- 


The  cyclone  reaches  New  York. — Page  15. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 5 

zig  had  bathed  and  donned  a  suit,  which 
was  too  long  for  him,  he  joined  the 
family  at  breakfast.  He  was  presented 
to  Mrs.  and  Miss  de  Land,  each  as  tall 
as  the  father.  These  stately,  magnifi 
cent  women  received  him  with  ease  and 
grace.  No  mention  was  made  nor  any 
hint  offered  concerning  his  strange  ap 
pearance  in  the  house.  In  such  a  circle 
his  high  breeding  asserted  itself,  and  he 
conversed  as  a  man  of  the  world  who 
had  been  invited  there  for  the  pleasure 
of  his  company.  For  the  time.being  he 
apparently  forgot  his  predicament  and 
only  remembered  that  he  was  in  the 
presence  of  a  young  woman,  who,  he 


1 6  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

now  recalled,  was  the  most  famous 
beauty  of  the  day.  When  the  ladies 
retired,  Mr.  de  Land  produced  the 
morning  papers  and  handed  them  to 
Porzig.  The  Baron  glanced  at  them, 
his  face  showing  signs  of  increasing 
horror.  Mr.  de  Land,  who  was  watch 
ing  him  narrowly,  suddenly  sprang  for 
ward  and  snatched  the  papers  from  his 
hand. 

"  Porzig  !"  he  commanded,  "  look  at 
me !  Rouse  yourself !  Some  of  your 
hairs  are  turning  white.  Daughter!" 
he  shouted,  "  come  here !" 

Miss  de  Land  entered  with  stately 
grace,  and  at  a  signal  from  her  father 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 7 

seated  herself  beside  the  unfortunate 
baron.  She  began  to  converse  with 
him  gently.  The  soothing,  magnetic 
tones  of  her  voice  gradually  roused  him 
until  his  intense  black  hairs  no  longer 
whitened  with  terror.  The  magnetism 
of  the  woman  soothed  the  wild  tumult 
in  his  brain,  but  still  Miss  de  Land 
noticed  that  he  seemed  absolutely  un 
nerved  by  reason  of  emotions  and  sen 
sations,  as  yet  unknown  to  her,  which 
were  convulsing  his  being.  She  natu 
rally  surmised  that  he  was  crazed  with 
liquor,  which,  to  all  appearance,  he  must 
have  been  indulging  in  for  some  time 
past. 


1 8  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

"  Baron/'  she  said  sweetly,  "  do  you 
ever  take  advice,  and  would  you 
take  it  from  a  lady  so  young  as  my 
self?" 

"  Mademoiselle  de  Land,"  he  replied, 
with  a  shiver  which  ran  from  his  head 
to  his  feet,  "  there  are  times  when 
advice  cannot  save  the  ship  beating 
upon  the  rocks,  and  doomed  to  swift 
destruction.  Even  in  that  predicament 
it  would  be  sweet  to  die  listening  to 
anything  so  fascinating  a  woman  as 
yourself  might  say.  Believe  me,  how 
ever,  it  is  not  what  will  be  said  by  you 
to  which  I  can  listen,  but  that  subtle 
quality  of  your  voice  which  will  relieve 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  19 

me  of  the  miseries  into  which  I  am 
plunged — miseries  such  as  no  man  ever 
before  endured.  Only  speak  and  1  can 
be  calm." 

"  Baron,  however  few  my  years,  I 
have  found  that  the  will  can  hold  con 
temptuously  at  bay  any  emotions,  sen 
sations,  and  trials  possible  in  human 
experience.  Try  to  look  on  what  has 
passed  with  contempt.  That  is  the 
only  course  for  us  who  live  in  these 
modern  times,  when  the  veils  which 
hide  so  many  mysteries  have  been 
torn  away,  showing  what  is  behind 
them." 

"  Mademoiselle,"  he  replied,  rousing 


20  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

himself,  "  such  advice  sounds  strangely, 
coming  from  an  American  to  a  Prus 
sian,  at  least  a  Prussian  by  birth  and 
instincts,  though  I  am  a  citizen  of  this 
country  by  long  residence  here.  My 
native  empire  has  done  most  to  lift 
those  veils  of  which  you  speak,  and  we 
Prussians  have  never  been  accused  of  a 
lack  of  fortitude.  Remember  that 
Goethe  forecast  evolution  long  before 
the  time  of  Darwin.  Still  your  advice 
is  good.  But,  Mademoiselle,  how  can  a 
man  who  went  to  sleep  in  New  Dresden 
and  awoke  thirty-six  hours  afterward  in 
New  York,  over  twenty-five  hundred 
miles  away,  look  with  contempt  on  the 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  2 1 

mystery,  the  destruction  of  property 
and  terrible  loss  of  life  which  make  up 
the  situation  I  am  now  called  upon  to 
face?" 

"  Baron  !"  exclaimed  both  father  and 
daughter,  "  don't  entertain  such  pre 
posterous  fancies." 

"  My  friends,"  said  the  baron  earn 
estly,  with  an  effort  regaining  his  ac 
customed  composure,  "here  are  the 
dailies  showing  that  my  New  Dresden 
property  worth  a  million  is  wiped  out 
and  myself  killed.  I  have  millions  re 
maining,  every  dollar  of  which  I  will 
give  to  you  if  you  can  show  that  I  slept 
in  New  York  last  night,  that  I  did  not 


22  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

retire  in  New   Dresden  the    night  be 
fore." 

The  father  and  daughter  stared. 

"  Baron,"  said  Miss  de  Land,  beginning 
to  laugh,  "  pardon  me  if  I  say  that  you 
must  have  had  an  enjoyable  night  of  it 
somewhere,  or  a  week  of  it,  perhaps, 
with  your  boon  companions.  Come, 
now,  do  not  dwell  on  such  absurd  fan 
cies,  lest  your  imagination  drive  you 
mad." 

"  Either  what  I  say  is  true,  or  else  I 
am  mad  now.  I  have  no  boon  compan 
ions.  I  drink  wine  only  at  my  meals, 
and  then  sparingly." 

"  Then,"   said   Mr.   de   Land,  with   a 


Baron,"  said   Miss  de  Land   beginning  to  laugh,    "pardon  me." 

—Page  22. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  23 

peculiar  warning  glance  at  his  daughter, 
"  we  must  investigate  the  case,  and  ascer 
tain  where  you  really  did  pass  the  night. 
I  propose  now  that  you  become  our 
guest  until  we  can  get  a  wardrobe  for 
you.  I  will  send  for  my  tailor,  if  you 
wish,  and  meantime  look  over  the  hotel 
lists." 

The  baron  acquiesced  in  the  plan 
with  profuse  thanks.  Mr.  de  Land  sent 
out  a  messenger,  who  soon  returned 
with  a  file  of  the  Daily  Hotel  Reporter 
containing  every  arrival  at  the  hotels  of 
New  York.  A  careful  scrutiny  of  two 
weeks  of  arrivals  failed  to  show  the 
name  of  Baron  Franz  Porzig. 


24  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

"  This  is  mysterious,"  remarked  Mr. 
de  Land  ;  perhaps  you  were  the  guest 
of  some  friends." 

The  old  terrified  look  for  an  instant 
came  into  the  baron's  eyes.  The 
strange  events  of  the  past  thirty-six 
hours,  which  he  had  believed  must  be 
dreams,  began  to  recur  to  him.  "  Mr. 
de  Land,"  he  said,  with  an  effort,  "  you 
have  been  kind  enough  to  begin  an  in 
vestigation.  Can  I  induce  you  to  con 
tinue  it  ?  I  will  give  you  a  list  of  those 
associated  with  me  in  business  in  this 
city,  and,  in  fact,  the  only  people  I  know 
in  New  York.  You  can  interview  them, 
apprise  them  that  I  live,  and  inquire  if 


'She  was  at  the  piano  playing  one  of  Liszt's  Hungarian   Rhapso 
dies.     He  entered  the  drawing-room  silently  and  listened." 

—Page  25. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  25 

they  have   seen   me   in   New  York   for 
months." 

"  I  shall  take  pleasure  in  accepting 
the  commission,  and  as  the  tailor  has 
arrived,  I  will  leave  you  with  him  while 
I  go  down  town." 

The  tailor  having  been  disposed  of, 
the  baron  again  sought  Miss  de  Land, 
as  one  fascinated  with  a  spell  which 
would  not  down.  She  was  at  the  piano 
playing  one  of  Liszt's  Hungarian  Rhap 
sodies.  He  entered  the  drawing-room 
silently  and  listened.  Having  finished 
this,  she  performed  the  overture 
to  "  Tannhauser,"  causing  tumultuous 
emotions  in  the  man.  Then,  as  if 


26  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

inspired,  she  played  the  grand  fantasie 
of  "  Die  Walkure,"  ending  with  Schu 
mann's  "  Traumerei."  During  these  re 
citals  of  the  grandest  products  of  his 
native  land,  in  fact  of  any  land,  the 
man's  loftiest  emotions  brought  him 
entirely  back  to  reason,  while  the 
ending  calmed  him  beyond  further 
terror.  He  advanced  timidly  to  this 
beautiful  creature,  more  beautiful,  it 
seemed  to  him,  than  woman,  and 
took  her  hand  for  an  instant. 

"  Mademoiselle,"  he  said,  with  all 
polish  and  grace,  "you  have  completely 
restored  my  reason.  I  was  not  aware 
that  any  woman  living,  not  of  the  pro- 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  27 

fession,  could  play  those  grand  works 
as  you  have  just  done.  I  am  now 
ready  to  believe  that  I  came  to  New 
York  naturally,  and  I  hope  your  father 
will  produce  the  proof." 

Her  face  flushed  with  gratified  pleas 
ure.  "  That  is  the  highest  compliment 
a  woman  ever  received,"  she  declared. 
"  How  could  you  ever  believe  that  you 
went  to  sleep  in  New  Dresden  and  . 
awoke  in  New  York?" 

"  It  was  a  singular  delusion,  was 
it  not?  Do  you  recall  any  similar 
instance  of  so  singular  an  effect  on  one's 
mind,  as  the  result  of  a  mere  dream  ? 
Certainly  I  am  a  strong,  healthy  man. 


28  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  weak  minds  or 
constitutions  in  our  family,  on  either 
side,  as  far  back  as  our  genealogy  goes. 
There  can,  then,  be  no  hereditary  rea 
son  for  such  a  dream  or  such  an  effect 
Yet  I  could  swear  that  I  went  to  bed  in 
New  Dresden  last  night  or  the  night 
before.  In  this  dream  I  had  wonderful 
experiences.  I  sailed  through  the  air; 
I  saw  the  destruction  of  my  ranch  and 
all  on  it,  exactly  as  depicted  in  the 
papers.  Can  it  be  that  there  are  occult 
psychologic  forces,  which  affect  some 
susceptible  minds,  so  that  under  certain 
comatose  conditions  they  are  endowed 
with  a  second  sight  ?  Now  I  remember, 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  29 

I  dreamed  everything  that  is  described 
in  the  papers,  and  more,  of  the  effects  of 
the  cyclone  of  which  I  am  supposed  to 
be  a  victim.  If  I  merely  dreamed, 
where  did  I  have  the  dream,  and 
how  is  it  that  the  correspondents 
describe  me  as  dead?  Did  they 
not,  like  myself,  believe  I  was  in 
my  house  at  the  time  of  its  de 
struction?  If  I  was  not  there,  where 
have  I  been  of  late,  and  how  is  it  I  can 
not  recall  being-  elsewhere  than  in  New 
Dresden  ?  How  can  I  convince  myself 
of  an  alibi  ?  There  are  a  thousand 
questions  like  these,  dear  Mademoiselle. 
If  you  have  really  restored  my  reason, 


3O  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

perhaps  you  can  offer  a  reasonable  ex 
planation." 

"  I  think,  Baron,  that  as  you  recover 
from  the  effects  of  the  dream,  your 
recent  whereabouts  will  all  come  back 
to  you.  It  was  indeed  a  startling, 
terrible  dream,  and  the  shock  was  such 
that  it  will  require  time  for  your  mind 
to  assume  its  normal  state.  It  is  no 
unusual  thing  for  New  Yorkers  to  sleep 
on  their  roofs  during  hot  nights,  and 
you,  having  retired  on  some  house  in 
the  vicinity,  naturally  moved  about 
under  the  influence  of  your  dream, 
finally  resting  on  our  house.  You 
should  be  thankful  you  did  not  fall  to 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  3 1 

the  pavement  and  meet  a  horrible 
death." 

"  But  what  think  you  of  the  dream 
itself,  its  accurate  picture  of  actual 
events  ?" 

"  Such  dreams,  less  startling,  perhaps, 
have  been  recorded.  I  read  of  a  man 
who  dreamed  of  reading-  an  account  of 
the  Franco-Prussian  war.  He  awoke  to 
behold  the  morning  paper  with  the  iden 
tical  head-lines,  and  an  account  of  the 
opening  of  the  war,  which  read  exactly 
as  he  had  dreamed.  The  servant,  it 
seems,  had  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morn 
ing  placed  the  paper  on  his  bed,  and 
by  some  psychological  influence  its 


32  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

i 

contents  were  conveyed  verbatim  to  the 
sleeper  underneath  it.  There  is  a  case 
also  which  I  read  in  the  North  Ameri 
can  Review,  of  the  patient  of  a  celebrated 
dental  surgeon  of  this  city.  The  pa 
tient  could  not  speak  the  French 
language,  although  her  ancestors  were 
French.  When  in  the  operating-chair 
under  the  influence  of  ether,  she  spoke 
fluently  in  French,  the  language  of  her 
ancestors.*  Here  were  psychological 
influences  at  work  through  hereditary 
channels." 


*See  North  American  Review  for  November,  1887, 
article  entitled  "Are  the  Lower  Animals  Approach 
ing  Man  ?"  by  William  Hosea  Ballou, 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  33 

"  Those  are  indeed  remarkable  inci 
dents,"  said  the  baron,  humbly,  "yet 
not  so  rc:narkable  as  mine,  in  which  I 
dreamed  all  the  extraordinary  details 
of  this  slaughter  by  a  cyclone." 

"  Had  you  better  not  retire,  Baron, 
and  get  a  new  and  refreshing  sleep? 
You  have  aged  much  within  a  few 
hours,  and  sleep  may  restore  your 
weakened  brain-cells." 

"  No  doubt  it  would  be  best,"  he 
murmured  feebly,  not  liking  to  leave 
her  and  be  alone,  "  and  yet,  there  is 
nothing  more  restful  than  your  pres 
ence." 

He  retired,  however,  and  immediately 


34  -A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

slept ;  not  awaking  until  the  next  day 
at  noon.  Left  alone,  Miss  de  Land 
arose  and  stood  for  a  moment  thinking 
of  his  last  words,  and  then  catching 
sight  of  herself  in  a  mirror,  detected 
on  her  face  a  burning,  speaking  blush. 


"Left  alone,  Miss  de  Land  arose  and  stood  a  moment  thinking- 
of  his  last  words,  and  then  catching  sight  of  herself  in  the  mirror, 
detected  on  her  face  a  burning,  speaking  blush. "-Page  34. 


II. 


MR.  JOHN  DE  LAND  was  not  idle. 
He  took  the  list  of  names  which  the 
baron  had  given  him  and  went  to  each 
one  personally  with  the  statement  which 
each  one  declined  to  believe,  namely, 
that  the  Baron  Porzig  was  at  his  house, 
under  his  care,  awaiting  their  arrival  to 
identify  himself  and  discuss  the  loss 
by  cyclone.  All  laughed  at  the  ab 
surdity  of  the  baron  being  in  New 

York  and  alive.     However,  they  were 

35 


36  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

all  glad  enough  to  be  guests  of  Mr. 
John  de  Land,  and  accepted  without 
hesitation  his  invitation  to  lunch  on 
the  following  day.  Mr.  de  Land  re 
ported  the  success  of  his  efforts  to 
his  family  and  the  general  suspicions 
that  the  Porzig  in  hand  might  be  a 
fraud. 

"  But,  father,"  pleaded  the  sympa 
thetic  Miss  Marie,  "  so  long  as  his  as 
sociates  are  coming  here  to-morrow,  let 
us  await  the  results  without  casting 
suspicion  on  this  poor  man.  We  have 
made  him  our  guest,  and  we  saw  his 
hair  turn  white  ;  this  alone  ought  to 
convince  us  that  this  is  the  genuine 


But  father     ...     let  us  await  the  result  without  casting  sus 
picion  on  this  poor  man." — Paye  30. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  37 

Baron  Porzig.  His  manners,  too,  are 
those  of  a  gentleman  and  a  noble 
man." 

"  Well,  I  have  pledged  myself  to 
afford  him  a  fair  chance  and  he  shall 
have  it.  If  he  prove  to  be  other  than 
the  baron,  and  I  strongly  suspect  that 
he  will,  I  shall  turn  him  over  to  the 
authorities  as  a  madman  in  need  of  a 
ward  at  Bloomingdale." 

"  He  is  not  in  the  least  dangerous, 
father.  Even  if  he  were  a  fraud — and 
nothing  shall  convince  me  of  that — he 
would  still  be  a  proper  subject  for  our 
most  humane  treatment.  I  believe  him 
to  be  neither  a  fraud  nor  a  madman, 


38  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

and  you  know  I  will  believe  nothing  I 
hear  against  any  one  until  I  have  heard 
both  sides  of  the  question.  If  the 
person  were  a  friend  of  mine  I  should 
not  care  even  if  the  undesirable  things 
charged  against  him  were  true.  My 
friends  may  fall  into  error,  but  that 
makes  it  all  the  more  necessary  for  me 
to  be  true  and  help  them.  Once  a 
friend  I  am  a  friend  forever — with  one 
exception.  A  single  disbelief  in  me,  or 
an  act  or  word  against  me,  and  the  friend 
goes  out  of  my  life  forever.  One  who 
is  false  once  will  be  false  again.  I 
believe  in  being  true  to  those  who  are 
true  to  me,  and  there  must  be  absolute 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  39 

evidence  that  the  friend  has  not  been 
true  to  me  before  I  dismiss  the  friend 
ship  ;  nor  will  I  even  then  until  the 
friend  has  had  a  chance  for  self-defence. 
We  have  taken  the  baron  under  our 
protection,  father,  on  account  of  the 
astounding  circumstances  which  have 
thrown  him  upon  our  generosity. 
We  must  be  true  to  his  interests  until 
he  prove  untrustworthy,  which  I  do 
not  believe  he  will." 

"  You  are  a  peculiar,  proud  child, 
my  daughter.  I  thank  you  for  a  lesson 
in  duty ;  it  explains  so  much  that  has 
been  inexplicable  heretofore  in  your 
life.  I  suppose  if  you  had  a  lover  and 


4O  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

you  did  not  hear  from  him  for  years, 
you  would  believe  him  true  to  you 
until  he  himself  proved  to  you  that  he 
had  been  false." 

"  I  certainly  should,  father.  Above 
all  men,  the  lover  should  have  a  chance 
for  self-defence  against  rumor,  state 
ments  of  a  malicious  press  or  evil 
tongues,  circumstantial  evidence,  or 
whatever  seems  to  weigh  against  him." 

At  this  point,  the  Baron  Porzig 
joined  the  group.  The  tailor  had  suc 
ceeded  in  arraying  him  as  magnificently 
as  his  highest  artistic  taste  could  wish 
— and  are  not  New  York  men  the  best 
dressed  bipeds  in  the  world  ? 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  41 

In  the  establishment  of  Brown  & 
Plympton,  with  which  the  said  tailor 
was  connected,  he  found  among  the 
large  number  of  suits  ready  for  delivery 
several  which  would  fit  the  baron  and 
temporarily  relieve  his  embarrassment. 
Said  tailor  was  accustomed  to  ac 
commodate  his  replies  to  customers 
according  to  circumstances,  and  he 
decided  to  inconvenience  some  of  them 
in  order  to  clothe  this  unfortunate  scion 
of  a  great  and  noble  house.  This  was 
a  beautiful  trait  in  his  character  which 
was  developed  whenever  the  induce 
ments  were  sufficiently  financial. 

The   changed   exterior  of  the   baron 


42  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

immeasurably  improved  his  appearance, 
and  if  there  were  no  other  evidence  of 
it  he  could  see  it  in  Miss  de  Land's 
eyes.  She  had  an  opportunity  now  to 
study  him  intently,  and  the  great  mental 
strain  she  was  beginning  to  endure  on 
his  account  was  a  sufficient  reason  for 
so  doing. 

Baron  Porzig  was  evidently  thirty  or 
thirty-one  years  of  age.  He  was  not  so 
tall  as  herself,  but  of  medium  height, 
black-eyed  and  intensely  black-haired, 
with  the  exception  of  one  tuft  on  the  left 
front  of  his  forehead,  which  had  turned 
white  in  her  presence.  His  hands  and 
feet  were  small.  His  whiskers  extended 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  43 

from  car  to  ear,  parting  in  the  middle 
of  the  chin,  and  were  brushed  either  way 
after  the  manner  of  the  Prussians.  His 
mustache  was  of  military  size,  and  his 
bearing  showed  his  early  training  in  the 
Prussian  military  schools. 

The  baron  was  the  youngest  son  of 
the  Porzig  family  when  he  had  departed 
from  Dresden.  He  had  then  no  hopes 
of  inheriting  a  title,  but  his  father  had 
put  him  at  the  head  of  the  largest  cattle 
syndicate  in  America  and  presented 
him  with  a  big  interest.  The  elder 
Porzig,  when  the  company  began  to 
succeed  beyond  all  expectations,  crossed 
the  ocean,  chartered  a  private  car  and 


44  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

visited  his  son.  Elated  at  his  son's  suc 
cess,  he  repeated  his  trips  several  times 
before  his  death,  and  not  only  saw  the 
young  man  grow  rich,  but  succeeded 
in  securing  for  him  the  title  of  Baron. 
Had  he  lived  to  see  his  boy  become 
endued  with  enthusiastic  republicanism 
and  naturalized  as  an  American  citizen, 
he  might,  perhaps,  have  repented  his 
goodness.  But  the  son  was  independent 
and  cast  off  his  allegiance  to  Prussia 
forever.  His  mother  bequeathed  to 
him  a  fortune  larger  than  he  had  ac 
quired,  so  that  the  wiping  out  of  his 
home  and  stock  at  New  Dresden  was 
merely  the  destruction  of  the  fruits  of 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  45 

his  industry.  His  family  had  early 
contracted  a  high  matrimonial  alliance 
for  him,  but  after  his  father  died  he 
declined  to  be  bound  to  the  contract 
unless  the  noble  lady  would  cast  off  her 
allegiance  to  Prussia  and  become  an 
American  subject.  This  her  family 
indignantly  declined  to  permit,  and 
he  was  free  to  love  or  not  as  he 
pleased. 

Mr.  de  Land  was  the  first  to 
speak. 

"  I  have  personally  seen  your  as 
sociates  in  the  cattle  syndicate,  Baron, 
and  they  have  signified  their  intention 
of  coming  here  to  lunch  to-morrow.  I 


46  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

hope  your  rest  has  as  immeasurably 
improved  you  as  has  your  tailor." 

"  Thanks !"  replied  the  baron  with  an 
amused  smile  at  the  evident  sally.  u  It 
is  \v,onderful  what  advantages  a  tailor- 
made  man  has  over  the  ordinary  citizen. 
Might  I  inquire  how  my  associates 
received  your  announcement  of  my 
presence  here?" 

Mr.  de  Land  hesitated. 

"  Oh,  speak  out !  I  have  endured  so 
much  of  late  that  another  straw  will  not 
hurt." 

"  Well,  to  be  frank  with  you,  these 
gentlemen  all  affirm  that  you  have  not 
been  in  this  city  of  late." 


^\ 


But     ou  told  them  I  am  here  and  alive  ?  "--  Paye  47. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  47 

"  Ah  !  then  I  am  vindicated.  Then  it 
is  clear  to  you  that  I  have  not  been 
indulging  with  boon  companions,  who 
have  played  a  practical  joke  on  me 
and  put  me  to  bed  on  a  strange 
roof  ?" 

"  Not  exactly  that,  Baron.  Knowing 
that  you  were  in  New  Dresden  on  the 
day  of  the  cyclone,  they  are  loath  to 
believe — in  fact  will  not  believe — that 
you  could  possibly  be  in  New  York  on 
the  next  day.  In  fact  they  are  sure 
you  are  dead." 

"  But  you  told  them  I  am  here  and 
alive?" 

"  Yes." 


48  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

"And  they  declined  to  take  your 
word  for  it?" 

"  Not  exactly  that." 

"Then  what  is  the  matter  with  them? 
They  must  believe  that  whatever  you 
say  is  true,  and  yet  they  disbelieve  that 
I  am  here.  I  cannot  understand  it. 
Did  you  tell  them  plainly  that  I  am 
here  ?' 

"  Baron,  pardon  me  if  I  explain. 
Your  associates  would  not  dare  to  dis 
believe  any  word  of  mine.  I  told  them 
the  Baron  Porzig  was  under  my  roof, 
alive  and  safe.  They  do  not  doubt  that 
you  are  here,  but  that  the  Baron  Porzig 
is  here.' 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  49 

The  baron  comprehended  at  last. 
He  seemed  staggered  for  a  moment, 
and  then  the  absurdity  of  the  affair 
assumed  a  ludicrous  aspect,  and  he 
laughed.  "  What  a  surprise  is  in  store 
for  them  to-morrow  !" 

"  Baron,  again  pardon  me.  You  are 
in  a  critical  position.  These  men  will 
undoubtedly  decline  to  believe  the  evi 
dence  of  their  own  senses.  They  will 
require  the  strongest  proofs  of  your 
identity,  whatever  may  be  the  resem 
blance  between  you  as  they  have 
known  you  and  you  as  you  are.  Pos 
sess  your  soul  with  patience  until  to 
morrow,  and  be  prepared  to  give  your 


50  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

friends  an  honest  day.  Meantime  I 
must  leave  you  with  Marie  while  I 
attend  to  some  business  preparatory  to 
our  departure  to  Newport  for  the 
season." 

After  the  departure  of  the  parent, 
the  baron  mused  a  moment.  "  Miss  de 
Land,"  he  queried,  "  do  you  believe  I 
am  I  ?" 

The  lady  laughed  heartily.  "  Cer 
tainly,  Baron,  I  believe  you  are  you." 

"  But,"  persisted  he,  "  do  you  believe 
that  I  am  the  Baron  Porzig  of  New 
Dresden,  said  to  be  destroyed  by 
cyclone?" 

"  I  believe  it  as  absolutely  as  I  believe 


Miss  de  Land,"  he  queried,  "do  you  believe  I  am  1  »"—Pbge  50. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  5 1 

I  am  Marie  de  Land,  not  said  to  be  de 
stroyed  by  cyclone." 

"  Thank  you,  beautiful  lady.  I  shall 
remember  that  mark  of  confidence  as 
long  as  I  exist,  whether  in  this  or  other 
worlds.  Your  father  did  not  say  all 
that  he  might  have  uttered,  but  in  his 
remarks  I  recognized  the  new  danger 
that  confronts  me— the  danger  that 
mere  flesh  and  blood,  in  fac-simile  of 
the  Baron  Porzig,  will  not  be  sufficient 
to  establish  my  identity." 

"  New  York  business-men  are  pe 
culiar  in  some  respects.  You  must  not 
fear  to  face  them." 

"  Perhaps  you  can  enlighten  me  con- 


52  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

earning  their  peculiarities — somewhat 
after  the  manner  of  naturalists  in  de 
scribing  the  characteristics  of  lower 
species  of  animals." 

Again  the  lady  laughed.  "  Our  busi 
ness  men  are  hardened  skeptics.  Let  us 
take  one  and  dissect  him,  as  it  were. 
Not  long  since  I  heard  of  a  poor  and 
obscure  man  to  whom  over  five  millions 
had  been  bequeathed  by  a  relative.  Im 
mediately  the  fact  got  into  the  papers, 
and  the  moneyed  men  of  the  city  began 
scheming  to  get  possession,  or  at  least 
control,  of  his  wealth,  while  the  para 
sites  on  humanity  sent  him  car-loads 
of  begging  letters.  Every  one  had  a 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  53 

scheme  to  offer,  and  the  mails,  messen 
ger-service,  and  telegraph  wires  were 
burdened  with  communications  and 
advice  as  to  how  he  might  invest  his 
dowry  and  make  other  millions.  A 
religious  organization  naturally  got 
ahead,  and  wound  its  fascinations 
around  him,  until  his  fortune  passed 
into  its  treasury. 

"  It  may  never  have  occurred  to  you, 
but  it  is  a  fact,  that  the  actual  handling 
of  all  wealth  is  in  comparatively  few 
hands.  These  comprise  a  few  bankers, 
presidents  of  trust  and  insurance  com 
panies,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury.  There  are  perhaps  not  more  than 


54  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

thirty  men  who  control  the  wealth  of 
New  York,  and  doubtless  not  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men  who  control 
the  wealth  of  the  United  States.  Most 
of  the  lesser  insurance  companies  are  the 
property  of  a  few  greater  ones,  that  is, 
with  partially  the  same  directories;  and 
a  half-dozen  men  handle  the  moneys 
gathered  by  all  the  insurance  com 
panies.  Most  of  the  lesser  banks  are 
owned,  controlled,  or  backed  by  a  few 
greater  ones,  which  lead  to  a  few  trust 
companies,  where  but  few  men  control 
all  the  funds  gathered  by  all  the  banks. 
All  national  exchange  is  on  New  York, 
and  all  moneyed  roads  lead  into  a  few 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  5  $ 

laps  in  New  York,  Boston,  and  Philadel 
phia.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
controls  all  the  national  funds.  He  is 
almost  invariably  a  Wall  Street  man, 
and  when  not,  is  got  into  office  by  the 
few  men  who  represent  the  moneyed 
power  of  Wall  Street.  There  is  one 
man  at  the  head  of  our  vast  telegraph 
system,  who  also  stands  at  the  head  of 
a  vast  railway  system.  A  network  of 
savings-banks  leads  into  a  network  of 
State  banks,  which  leads  into  some  na 
tional  banks,  which  lead  into  one  great 
trust  company  ;  and  there  you  find  him 
at  the  head,  controlling  the  whole 
gigantic  fund  collected  by  the  agents  of 


56  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

the  telegraph,  railway,  and  bank  sys 
tems.  Through  his  trust  company  he 
buys  and  sells  stocks  and  bonds,  pro 
jects  colossal  railway  enterprises,  and 
rules,  a  king,  in  the  financial  world. 
One  railway  family  of  this  city  has  a 
similar  network  of  railways,  banks,  and 
newspapers,  and  owns  three  hundred 
millions  in  money  value,  besides  control 
ling  twice  that  sum.  Even  in  this  view 
of  the  case,  New  York  is  a  very  small 
money  centre  compared  with  London, 
which  has  pounds  to  our  pennies,  with 
a  larger  number  of  men  in  control.  It 
is  they  who  in  the  end  will  have  all  our 
interests  in  their  safes.  It  is  in  London 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  57 

where  our  breweries,  railroads,  manu 
factories,  iron  and  coal  lands,  and  enter 
prises  are  being  sold  by  subscription, 
and  often  bought  outright.  I  have 
shown  how  a  few  men  control  our 
wealth.  It  is  they  who  get  control  of 
the  savings  and  hoards  of  the  people, 
who  loan  these  hoards  on  security,  and 
for  the  projection  of  railways,  construc 
tion  of  steamships,  business  blocks,  and 
dwellings,  and  for  enterprises  of  all  de 
scriptions,  such  as  booms  in  the  West 
and  South,  and  new  manufactories 
everywhere.  Can  you  wonder  that 
these  few  money  kings  are  constantly 
beset  by  men  who  have  all  manner  of 


58  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

schemes,  railways,  patents,  projects, 
and  enterprises,  to  put  through  ?  The 
money  king  leads  a  life  that  is  har 
assed,  bored,  and  pursued.  He  be 
comes  hardened,  and  a  skeptic.  It  is 
money  kings  you  will  have  to  face  to 
morrow  ;  and  not  even  though  the  fact 
that  you  may  be  in  all  respects  the 
absolute  alter  ego  of  the  Baron  Porzig 
they  know  and  are  interested  with,  will 
you  succeed  without  complete  evidence 
in  establishing  your  claim  to  the  name 
you  bear.  To  them  you  are  dead. 
They  insist  that  you  have  not  been  and 
cannot  now  be  in  this  city  ;  that  you 
were  in  New  Dresden  at  the  time  of 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  59 

the  cyclone,  which  destroyed  all  life  in 
that  section.  I  hope  you  will  be  rea 
sonable,  tell  no  preposterous  tale,  and 
simply  prove  that  you  have  been  in  the 
city  for  some  days,  and  came  here  natu 
rally  on  the  cars.  You  can  afford  to 
bribe  the  car  porters  and  hotel  clerks  to 
substantiate  you." 

"  Mademoiselle  de  Land,  pardon  me 
for  momentarily  ignoring  your  last  re 
mark  to  express  my  astonishment  and 
admiration  at  the  way  you  depict  the 
New  York  business-man,  and  dissect 
him  as  Virchow  might  a  rabbit." 

"  It  is  not  original  with  me,"  she 
averred,  blushingly.  "  I  have  heard  it 


60  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

and  seen  it  in  the  person  of  my  father, 
who  is  one  of  those  who  possess  some, 
and  control  much  money." 

"Then  he  is  a  remarkably  polite  man 
— a  man  of  immense  equipoise." 

"  He  is  all  of  that,  truly  ;  but  why?" 

"  Because  he  has  taken  me  into  his 
house  under  suspicious  circumstances, 
clothed  me,  fed  me,  worked  for  me,  and 
permitted  me  to  associate  with  the  most 
charming  and  beautiful  woman  in  the 
world — his  daughter." 

"  Baron,  do  not  relapse  into  your  pre 
vious  state  of  hysteria,  I  beg  of  you." 
The  lady's  face  did  not  emphasize  her 
words. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  61 

"  Mademoiselle,  truth  is  not  flattery. 
Permit  me  to  say  what  I  feel  to  be  so 
true,  else  my  sense  of  gratitude  as  well 
as  of  admiration  will  stand  in  my  own 
rebuke." 


III. 

AT  noon  on  the  following  day,  the 
third  of  the  strange  appearance  of  the 
alleged  Baron  Porzig  of  New  Dresden, 
Idaho,  in  New  York,  the  syndicate  op 
erating  the  New  Dresden  cattle  inter 
ests  assembled  at  the  palatial  residence 
of  John  de  Land,  Esq.  The  house  was 
located  in  the  new  West  End  district, 
in  which,  of  late,  a  majority  of  the  se 
lect  of  the  New  York  aristocracy,  face 
tiously,  at  one  time,  but  now  appropri- 

62 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  63 

ately  termed  the  "  Four  Hundred/'  on 
account  of  a  chance  remark  of  Mr.  Lord 
McAlabaster  to  a  reporter,  have  re 
cently  become  resident. 

The  West  End  district  is  bounded  on 
the  north  by  I25th  Street,  on  the  south 
by  72nd  Street,  on  the  east  by  the  west 
side  of  Broadway  Boulevard,  and  on 
the  west  by  Riverside  Drive.  This  sec 
tion  is  paved  with  a  material  resem 
bling  asphalt,  which  yields  no  sound 
from  passing  vehicles  and  would  not 
explode  a  torpedo  if  dropped  by  some 
mischief-loving  child  on  the  Fourth  of 
July,  or  a  bomb  if  cast  by  some  de 
structive  anarchist.  In  brief,  it  is  a 


64  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

noiseless  pavement,  and  the  ear-drums 
of  the  select  cannot  be  vulgarly  or  an- 
noyingly  vibrated  from  sounds  on  the 
street.  The  sidewalks  are  thirty  feet 
wide,  each  palatial  home  being  re 
quired  to  have  a  single  and  solid  flag 
stone  the  length  of  its  entire  frontage. 
The  residences  of  the  district  are  con 
structed  of  the  most  expensive  material 
in  the  most  pleasing  and  imposing,  but 
varied  yet  harmonious  architectural 
styles,  by  a  trust  comprised  of  some 
thirty  money  kings,  who,  as  Miss  de 
Land  has  explained,  control  the  wealth 
of  New  York,  The  trust  has  assidu 
ously  selected  the  people  to  whom 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  65     . 

these  residences  have  been  sold,  declin 
ing  to  allow  any  structures  within  the 
sacred  and  restricted  area  to  be  leased 
or  rented.  It  has  declined,  absolutely, 
all  offers,  however  munificent,  from  He 
brews,  the  suddenly  made  rich  and  any, 
to  them,  undesirable  people,  who  are 
outside  the  pale  of  the  "  Four  Hun 
dred."  The  trust  also  purchased  or 
leased  indefinitely  the  lands  bordering 
the  area,  that  it  might  prevent  the  erec 
tion,  in  the  vicinity,  of  tenement  houses 
and  manufactories,  and  any  near  ap 
proach  of  tradespeople.  From  all  the 
streets  and  by-ways  leading  from  the 
area  where  any  member  of  the  "  Four 


66  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

Hundred  "  might  by  any  possibility  de 
sire  to  walk  or  drive,  those  peculiar 
structures  known  as  shanties,  which 
once  composed  the  homes  of  that  great, 
populous  and  wonderful  voting  and 
laboring  section  termed  Shantytown, 
have  been  totally  obliterated.  Where 
single  squares  contained  three  hundred 
families  of  Shantytownites,  so  essential 
in  elections,  the  ground  has  been  swept 
clean  of  them  and  of  goats,  horses, 
sheep,  cattle,  dogs,  cats  and  hogs  which 
dwelt  with  men,  children  and  women 
under  single  roofs.  Of  all  the  vast  ex 
panse  covered  by  the  municipality  of 
New  York,  the  West  End  alone  has 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  67 

high  water  pressure,  and  no  pumps  are 
required  to  get  the  desirable  Croton 
liquid  (which  has  cost  the  inhabitants 
about  $100,000,000  to  date,  to  pacify 
contractors  at  a  violation  of  common 
law  and  constitutions  which  forbid 
competition  by  municipal  and  govern 
mental  enterprises  with  citizens),  into 
upper  stories,  and  consequently  tanks 
are  not  needed  on  roofs.  The  sacred 
area  is  also  under  the  dominion  of  the 
Park  Commissioners,  with  Park  police 
who  appear  within  its  sacred  precincts 
in  full  dress  of  costly  gray  texture,  to 
distinguish  them  from  the  vulgar  blue 
suits  and  big  brass  buttons  of  ordinary 


68  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

policemen.  Mellifluent,  incandescent, 
translucent  and  transcendent  lights  are 
housed  in  elaborate  chandeliers  at  the 
street  corners  to  illuminate  the  fashion 
able  pedestrian  all  night  and  throw  a 
phosphorescent  glow  on  the  key-holes 
of  the  Americanized  palaces,  and  ab 
sorb  the  color,  in  the  early  morning 
hours,  of  any  noses  abnormally  red 
dened  by  salt  breezes. 

Running  through  the  centre  of  this 
section  is  the  magnificent  West  End 
Avenue,  the  glory  of  modern  New 
York,  lying  parallel  with  Riverside 
Drive,  immortalized  by  the  remains  of 
the  World's  great  hero,  Grant ;  and 


,^;^^'r^.     ,*•• 
^J^>1^''^(^ 


/•">.  ^ 


Reporters  examining  the  square  where  the  Baron  Porzig  alighted. 

—Page  69. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  69 

parallel  with  the  beautiful  Hudson 
River,  so  called, — an  arm  of  the  sea,  by 
the  way,  at  least  as  far  up  as  Albany, 
tide-swept,  and  an  exhibition  of  the 
power  of  that  extraordinary  glacier 
which  hewed  out  the  river  passage, 
carved  the  fantastic  columns  of  basalt 
known  as  the  Palisades,  and  left  that 
wonderful  sedimentary  deposit  called 
Long  Island,  where  it  rested,  then  suf 
fused  itself  in  tears. 

It  is  on  West  End  Avenue  that  the 
home  of  the  de  Lands  stands,  on  the 
roof  of  which  the  alleged  Baron  Porzig 
was  found  at  early  morning  three  days 
since.  It  may  be  recognized  by  its 


/o  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

exterior,  its  old  Dutch  gables,  made  of 
modern-pressed  brick,  its  wide  entrance 
with  an  immense  stairway  of  brown- 
stone,  and  the  colors  cf  the  wood-work 
visible  at  the  windows,  which  differ  at 
each  story. 

The  syndicate  party  was  as  select  as 
could  possibly  be  assembled  on  this 
continent.  There  were  Messrs.  Moran 
and  Blest,  the  leading  bankers  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia.  There  was 
one  of  the  Vanderpools,  of  the  great 
house  of  railroadists.  General  Macy, 
the  leading  counsel  of  the  city,  was 
there.  Dr.  Banks,  the  most  aristocratic 
surgeon,  was  present.  The  de  Lands, 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  71 

themselves,  were  considered  leaders  of 
the  fashionable  "  Four  Hundred."  Mr. 
John  de  Land  claimed  direct  descent 
from  Hudson  of  Half  Moon  fame,  and  it 
is  surmised  that  in  the  more  remote  his 
tory  of  the  family  the  name  was  Van 
Lander,  the  nomenclature  having  grad 
ually  changed  to  de  Land.  The  family 
were  not  wealthy  from  a  New  York 
stand-point,  having  perhaps  $50,000,000, 
invested  mostly  in  real  estate.  How 
ever,  they  retained  their  social  suprem 
acy,  not  only  on  account  of  the  family 
name  and  standing,  but  because  of  the 
fact  that  Miss  Marie  de  Land  was 
the  reigning  beauty  and  belle  of  the 


72  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

metropolis.  Being  in  the  latter  part  of 
June,  the  fashionable  throng  had  not 
yet  migrated  to  the  resorts. 

Miss  Marie  was  perhaps  twenty-four 
years  old.  She  was,  as  has  been  stated, 
like  other  members  of  her  family,  tall 
and  exceedingly  well  formed.  Some 
tall  people  have  large  feet  and  hands, 
and  are  usually  either  broad-shouldered 
and  large-waisted,  or  very  slender  and 
spindle  shaped.  She  was  an  exception, 
full  six  feet  in  height,  and  as  per 
fectly  proportioned  as  the  most  exact 
ing  artist  could  demand  in  a  model. 
She  had  very  small  feet  and  slender, 
tapering  hands.  Her  bust  was  shapely 


Miss  DE  LAND. — Puye  72. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  73 

and  perfect,  such  as  a  modiste  could 
hope  to  see  but  once  in  life.  Tall  peo 
ple  sometimes  have  either  too  large  or 
too  small  heads,  but  hers  was  of  me 
dium  size,  crowned  with  light  umber 
hair,  too  dark  for  blond,  too  light  for 
brunette ;  old-gold  colored,  it  might  be 
termed.  Her  eyes  were  dark  brown, 
darker  than  the  chestnut;  a  combination 
of  hair  and  eyes  seldom  to  be  seen  ex 
cept  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and 
not  very  often  anywhere  ;  a  combina 
tion  sure  to  stamp  any  woman  as  glori 
ously  beautiful.  Such  a  combination 
invariably  carries  with  it  a  superb  com 
plexion.  In  Miss  de  Land's  case  the 


74  -A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

qualitative  "  superb"  would  be  insuffi 
cient.  The  soil  which  produced  it  was 
evidently  the  same  which  gives  to  the 
large  varieties  of  peaches  such  luscious 
and  tempting  skins. 

Miss  de  Land  was  not  a  scalp-hunter. 
All  during  her  post-debutante  experi 
ence  she  accumulated  a  large  following 
of  men,  but  deftly  managed  them  so  as 
to  prevent  what  to  her  was  the  dis 
agreeable  reality  of  rejection.  She  had 
avoided  collisions  and  heart-breaks  of 
this  kind  by  refusing  all  solicitations, 
all  opportunities  of  every  description 
of  ever  being  with  a  man  out  of  the 
hearing  of  some  one  of  her  family  or 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  75 

friends.  Men  recognized  these  ideal 
traits,  and  respected  the  motives  which 
underlaid  them  ;  and  none  of  them 
dared  to  write  to  her  of  his  love,  feeling 
sure  of  losing  the  prize  thereby,  and  all 
hope  of  winning  it.  Her  stately,  grand 
demeanor  was  a  protection  to  her  as 
strong  as  a  network  of  torpedoes  to  a 
harbor.  Men  were  abashed,  and  the 
boldest  had  not  touched  her  arm,  or 
whispered  in  her  ear,  or  enjoyed  a  t$te- 
a-tcte  flirtation  behind  her  fan,  or  em 
braced  her  in  a  dance,  or  talked  silly 
nothings  with  her,  or  been  with  her 
alone  in  a  parlor,  or  walked  or  ridden 
alone  with  her  on  the  street,  or 


76  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

ventured  one  of  the  little  improprieties 
with  her,  such  as  cause  favored  men  in 
society  to  hold  in  contempt  the  mass  of 
girls  who  permit  such  intimacies.  Bar 
on  Porzig  only  had  been  alone  with  her, 
and  then  under  the  most  remarkable 
and  unavoidable  circumstances  which 
ever  beset  a  man.  Even  the  most  de 
based  men  who  float  in  high  society, — 
and  their  name  is  legion, — if  they  had 
seldom  seen  a  woman  to  thoroughly 
respect,  an  object  of  all  honor,  a  girl 
removed  above  all  her  sex,  found  a  ce 
lestial  ideal  in  this  one. 

A   servant   announced    to   the    baron 
that  the   gentlemen  had  assembled  and 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  77 

were  awaiting  him.  As  the  baron  en 
tered  the  drawing-room  the  gentlemen 
arose,  advanced  a  few  steps,  and  then 
all  except  Mr.  cle  Land  stopped  sud 
denly  in  amrzemcnt  and  horror. 

"  Porzig !  "  they  exclaimed  in  terrified 
tones. 

"  All  right,  my  friends.  I  am  flesh 
and  blood." 

"  But  we  have  telegrams  from  you 
dated  the  day  before  the  cyclone  at 
New  Dresden  and  letters  dated  the 
same  day." 

"  I  am  aware  of  that." 

"  But  how  did  you  escape  ?  How 
did  you  get  here?" 


7 8  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

"  I  do  not  know.  I  found  myself  on 
Mr.  de  Land's  roof,  in  my  own  bed." 

"  Impossible!" 

"  But  the  bed  is  up  there  now,  and 
you  can  go  and  see  it." 

"  We  certainly  found  him  there," 
said  Mr.  de  Land,  leading  the  way  to 
the  scuttle. 

The  gentlemen  examined  the  bed 
with  great  care.  The  baron's  name 
was  on  the  blankets  and  mattress. 
It  certainly  appeared  to  be  his  own 
bed. 

After  the  examination  the  gentlemen 
withdrew  apart  from  the  baron  and 
held  a  consultation.  When  they  had 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  79 

once  more  assembled  in  the  drawing- 
room,  Mr.  Vanderpool  said  as  kindly  as 
possible,  "  We  admit,  sir,  that  the  resem 
blance  between  yourself  and  the  Baron 
Porzig  we  know  is  perfect  in  all  re 
spects — that  you  are  his  alter  ego.  We 
also  note  the  bed  in  which  you  were 
found,  and  the  name  of  '  Porzig  '  written 
thereon.  But  we  are  sane  men,  and 
New  York  business  men  in  addition, 
— which  fact  should  have  its  peculiar 
weight  with  you.  We  have  not  yet 
decided  that  you  are  an  impostor,  al 
though  there  are  abundant  data  in  the 
past  experience  of  the  world  to  show 
that  resemblances  may  be  fatal,  and 


So  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

many  men,  such  as  Mr.  Jay  Gould,  Mr. 
James  G.  Elaine,  General  Philip  Sher 
idan,  General  Benjamin  Harrison,  and 
others,  are  well  known  to  have  doubles. 
Neither  have  we  decided  that  you  are 
the  Baron  Porzig.  We  have  simply 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Baron 
Porzig  we  know  is,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  a  dead  man,  and  you  alone, 
being  the  most  interested,  must  prove 
the  contrary.  We  are  willing  to  give 
you  every  opportunity  in  the  world— 
not  that  we  believe  or  will  believe, 
except  on  indisputable  evidence,  that 
you  are  the  baron,  but  because  it  is 
right  and  just,  and  may  result  in  great 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  8 1 

interest  as  the  solution  of  an  extraordi 
nary  phenomenon." 

During  this  speech  the  alleged  Baron 
grew  livid  with  rage.  His  white  face 
gleamed  with  fury,  and  his  single  tuft 
of  snow-white  hair  raised  on  end.  He 
acted  as  if  about  to  unloose  the  torrents 
of  his  wrath  when  he  caught  the  sym 
pathetic  face  of  Miss  de  Land  and  read 
in  her  eyes  a  warning.  He  raised  his 
hand  to  his  head  an  instant,  then  let 
it  fall  on  the  back  of  the  chair  beside 
him.  He  did  not  speak  until  the  blood 
had  returned  to  his  face  and  the  fires 
of  his  eyes  diminished.  Those  present 
watched  the  extraordinary  struggle  to 


82  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

regain  his  calm.  Every  emotion  was 
as  visible  as  if  he  had  verbally  ex 
pressed  it.  One  could  but  admire  the 
supreme  effort  by  which  he  regained 
self-control,  and  have  greater  fear  of 
his  calm  than  his  storm.  He  spoke  at 
last: 

"  You  gentlemen  who  have  associated 
with  me  in  business  and  in  this  enter 
prise,  wrho  have  conversed  with  me 
time  and  again  in  your  offices,  who 
have  fed  at  my  board  and  shared  the 
large  dividends  derived  through  my 
liberal  management  of  the  ranch,  who 
*  are  amply  protected  in  this  time  of  loss 
by  my  insistence  on  insuring  against 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  83 

disaster  by  cyclone,  who  have  received 
my  lamented  father  in  your  homes 
with  honors  and  to  your  social  aggran 
dizement,  can  use  your  judgment  in 
the  matter  of  recognition  ;  but  since  you 
have  been  so  kind  as  to  allow  to  me 
the  privilege  of  demonstrating  that  I 
am  myself,  and  entitled  to  your  distin 
guished  consideration,  I  beg  that  you 
will  postpone  further  hearing  until  to 
morrow  at  this  hour,  by  which  time  I 
shall  perhaps  have  collected  evidence 
necessary  to  my  identification." 


IV. 

ON  the  following  morning  the  Baron 
Porzig  was  served  with  a  peculiar  and 
startling  notice.  It  came,  as  was  ex 
plained,  from  the  Mutual  Human  Life 
and  the  Mutual  Cyclone  Companies, 
two  organizations  with  an  identical 
directory,  in  one  of  which  the  baron's 
life  was  insured,  and  in  the  other  the 
New  Dresden  Cattle  Syndicate.  Mr. 

Leavitt    P.    Moran   was    President    of 

84 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  85 

both   companies.     The    notice    read   as 
follows : 

SIR:— The  interests  of  the  two  in 
surance  companies,  under  practically 
one  management,  are  peculiarly  in 
volved  in  your  case,  and  admittedly'  at 
war  with  each  other.  If  the  Baron 
Porzig  be  dead,  the  Mutual  Human 
Life  Company  must  stand  a  loss  to  the 
heirs  of  $500,000.  It  is  therefore  to 
the  interest,  of  that  company  that  you 
prove  yourself  the  Baron  Porzig.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  the  Baron  Porzig 
be  dead  the  Mutual  Cyclone  Company 
is  relieved  from  an  indemnity  of  more 
than  $1,000,000  of  damage  done  by  the 


86  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

cyclone  to  the  New  Dresden  Cattle  Syn 
dicate,  as  its  policy  expired  on  the  day 
of  the  storm.  It  is  true  that  under  con 
tract  there  were  three  days  of  grace  for 
the  renewal  of  the  policy  ;  and  we  admit 
that  a  check  for  such  renewal  has  been 
received  within  the  stipulated  grace. 
The  check,  however,  was  written  in  this 
city,  and  signed  by  you  as  the  alleged 
Baron  Porzig.  But  he,  being  considered 
dead,  both  ourselves  and  the  bank 
must  refuse  the  check  unless  you  can 
prove  an  alibi  and  establish  your 
identity.  If  the  baron  be  alive,  we  are 
relieved  in  one  company  from  paying 
his  personal  life-insurance.  If  he  be 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclont.  87 

dead  we  are  relieved  from  indemnifying 
the  cattle  company.  We  save  over  a 
half- million  if  he  be  dead.  Still,  some 
of  the  members  of  the  cattle  syndicate 
are  in  the  directory  of  the  two  insurance 
companies,  which  fact  makes  it  desirable 
to  such  men  to  have  you  establish  the 
existence  of  the  baron.  We  have  there- 
.  fore  decided  not  to  place  you  in  a 
condition  of  public  arrest.  We  are, 
however,  under  the  necessity  of  placing 
you  under  the  watch  of  proper  officers, 
authorized  to  arrest  you  if  you  attempt 
to  leave  the  residence  in  which  you 
are  domiciled.  Further,  we  have  de 
cided  to  accept  the  verdict  of  the 


88  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

syndicate,  in  which  Mr.  Moran,  who  is 
president  of  each,  will  guard  the  inter 
est  of  the  insurance  companies.  If  you 
succeed  in  establishing  your  identity 
before  that  improvised  court  to-day, 
there  will  be  no  further  prosecution. 

[Signed]  BLEST. 

After  reading  this  document  the 
Baron  gave  it  a  moment's  thought  and 
thrust  it  into  his  pocket.  He  sent  his 
card  to  Miss  de  Land,  who  returned 
word  that  she  would  be  pleased  to  meet 
him  in  the  drawing-room.  When  the 
couple  met,  Miss  de  Land  noted  the 
same  fires  of  wrath  in  his  eyes,  inter 
mingled  with  a  species  of  utter  contempt 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  89 

for  some  object  which  she  could  only 
surmise.  His  expression  softened  con 
siderably  when  she  extended  her  hand 
and  sweetly  inquired  if  he  had  rested 
well. 

"  I  have  no  difficulty  in  resting  like 
one  in  a  beautiful  dream  when  under 
the  same  roof  with  you,"  he  re 
plied. 

She  withdrew  her  hand  abruptly,  and 
almost  coldly  inquired  what  might  be 
the  object  of  his  call,  and  if  she  could 
render  to  him  any  assistance. 

"  I  was  thinking,"  he  said,  "that  if  I 
could  only  persuade  you  to  play  the 
'  Traumerei '  for  me,  it  would  prepare 


QO  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

me  for  the  ordeal  through  which  I  must 
pass  to-day." 

She  immediately  went  to  the  piano, 
and  after  running  the  scales  to  prepare 
her  mind  for  the  event,  softly  began 
that  exquisite  composition  of  Schumann, 
which  stands  unrivalled  as  a  balm  for 
the  wounded  spirit.  After  the  rendi 
tion  she  turned  and  glanced  at  the  man, 
her  face  softened  by  the  musical  pathos 
like  that  of  the  prayer  of  some  beautiful 
soul  in  the  invisible  world.  Out  of  the 
man's  eyes  all  wrath  and  contempt  had 
fled. 

"  You  are  good  to  the  poor  prisoner 
and  criminal,"  he  murmured. 


A  prisoner  and  a  criminal  ?"  she  interrogated  in  surprise.-  Paye  i)l. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  91 

"A  prisoner  and  criminal!"  she  in 
terrogated  in  surprise.  "  What  mean 
you  ?" 

"  If  it  is  not  too  much  trouble,  may  I 
ask £ou  to  read  this  document?" 

She  took  the  official  paper  and 
perused  it  in  amazement.  "  That  is  a 
pretty  frank  confession ;  and  what  a 
remarkable  exhibition  of  human  selfish 
ness  and  personal  greed.  What  will 
you  do  about  it  ?" 

"  I  do  not  see  that  the  situation  is  at 
all  changed  by  the  letter.  I  shall  prove 
my  identity,  and  shame  my  own  friends 
and  associates." 

"  I  fear  you  do  not  understand   the 


92  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

make-up  of  these  mutual-insurance  com 
panies,"  she  mused. 

"  What  is  there  to  understand,  save 
that  they  have  immeasurably  insulted  a 
gentleman  ?"  he  demanded. 

"  Perhaps  if  I  explain  their  modus 
operandi  you  will  be  better  able  to  cooe 
with  them.  I  have  often  heard  father 
dilate  on  the  advantages  of  being  on  the 
inside  ring  of  a  mutual-insurance  com 
pany.  Every  policy-holder  is  a  stock 
holder.  Every  policy-holder,  conse 
quently,  has  a  vote  as  a  share-holder 
in  the  company,  be  the  amount  of  his 
policy  much  or  little.  Let  us  say  that 
by  a  control  of  a  majority  of  these  votes 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  93 

A  has  been  elected  a  director,  B  presi 
dent,  C  vice-president,  D  treasurer,  E 
secretary,  and  so  on.  The  officials 
being  established  in  office,  lay  pipes,  as 
the  politicians  say,  to  continue  in  office. 
The  president,  of  course,  controls  the 
largest  number  of  votes.  There  are 
various  ways  for  him  to  do  so.  In  a 
recent  lawsuit  in  this  city  it  was  devel 
oped  that  the  president  of  a  mutual 
company  was  paying  over  five  hundred 
policies  of  employees  in  one  of  his 
factories,  which  gave  him  that  number 
of  additional  proxies  or  votes  by  which 
he  voted  himself  into  power  at  each 
annual  election.  The  big  policy-holders, 


94  <d  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

who  wanted  a  change  in  the  administra 
tion  of  the  company,  were  astounded 
by  being  outvoted  by  factory  hands  who 
paid  the  company  but  several  dollars 
each  annually  while  they  paid  thousands. 
They  brought  suit,  and  failing  to 
oust  the  president  on  the  equities  of 
the  case,  were  compelled  to  pay  him 
a  large  sum  for  his  proxies,  with  which 
to  oust  him  from  the  company.  A 
new  management  came  in  which  dared 
not  adopt  a  similar  policy  for  their 
self-detention  in  office.  So  it  secured 
a  verbal  condition  from  each  merchant 
who  sought  to  insure,  that  he  would, 
immediately  on  receiving  his  policy, 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  95 

surrender  his  proxy  for  the  voting  use 
of  the  president  in  power.  That  is  the 
manner  in  which  all  of  these  mutual- 
insurance  companies  are  run.  As  a 
consequence  the  president  and  his  clique 
have  the  absolute  control  of  the  millions 
accumulated  by  the  company.  It  is  the 
president  who  makes  immense  invest 
ments  in  government,  railway,  water 
works,  gas,  and  other  bonds,  and  erects 
the  magnificent  buildings  which  every 
where  characterize  insurance  companies. 
As  a  natural  consequence,  he  may 
purchase  securities,  etc.,  ostensibly  for 
sums  placed  on  the  books  of  the  com 
pany  and  for  which  there  are  vouchers, 


96  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

but  actually  at  less  rates,  putting  the 
difference  in  his  pocket  for  his  own 
enrichment,  by  connivance  with  the 
agents  from  whom  he  buys.  Do  you 
wonder  that  the  president  of  the  two 
companies  which  have  written  you, 
and  his  clique,  look  with  tender  solici 
tude  at  the  large  sums  represented 
in  you,  and  the  control  of  which  they 
stand  a  chance  to  lose  ?  But  for  the  in 
terest  in  the  cattle  syndicate  which  some 
of  the  men  have  who  are  connected  with 
the  insurance  companies,  all  would  hot 
ly  contest  in  the  courts  what  to  them  can 
legally  be  construed  as  an  assumption 
on  your  part  to  being  alive.  Even  that 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  97 

joint  connection  renders  your  position 
exceedingly  precarious.  You  have  fall 
en  into  the  midst  of  the  chief  controllers 
of  the  wealth  of  the  country,  of  which 
my  father  is  one,  and  you  are  at  their 
mercy  unless  you  can  make  a  strong 
case — too  strong  to  contest  in  the  courts. 
They  have  had  control  of  your  fortune 
and  interests  while  you  in  the  far  North 
west  have  been  unceasingly  laboring 
for  them  and  enriching  them,  even  if 
you  did  share  the  profits.  T  felt  it  my 
duty  to  warn  you,  even  against  my 
father ;  for  the  men  with  whom  you  deal 
elect  presidents  of  the  United  States  ; 
dictate  their  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury 


98  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

and  Interior,  and  their  financial  policies ; 
regulate  the  prices  of  stocks,  bonds,  and 
real  estate  ;  and  direct  the  operations  of 
Wall  Street,  for  their  own  gain." 

During  this  extraordinary  recital  the 
baron  positively  stared  in  increasing 
amazement. 

"Jupiter!"  he  exclaimed  when  she 
had  finished, "  I  can  see  now  how  every 
thing  you  say  is  absolutely  true,  and 
how  little  the  average  individual  under 
stands  about  the  affairs  of  life  in  which 
he  takes  even  a  conspicuous  part.  I  do 
not  know  which  amazes  me  most — the 
recital  or  the  reciter.  Mademoiselle, 
you  are  a  most  wonderful  woman !  I 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  99 

cannot  conceive  how,  if  even  your 
father  gave  you  such  valuable  infor 
mation,  you  are  able  to  repeat  it  so 
logically  and  perspicuously.  Such  mo 
mentous  affairs  are  beyond  the  compre 
hension  of  the  mass  of  people,  even 
when  carefully  explained.  How  can 
the  widow,  when  she  places  her  mite  in 
the  savings-bank,  appreciate  the  fact 
that  it  becomes  a  part  of  the  mass  of 
perhaps  a  half-billion  of  dollars  of  such 
savings,  which  pass  in  a  lump  into  the 
control  of  a  half-dozen  men,  by  which 
they  manipulate  the  financial  operations 
of  the  country  and  become  the  most 
potent  factors  of  the  invisible  iron  hand 


ioo  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

of  power?  How  can  even  the  ordinary 
business  man  understand  it  who  thinks 
to  use  the  bank  for  his  convenience, 
when  in  fact  the  head  of  a  series  of  such 
concerns  is  using  his  funds,  in  common 
with  the  great  mass  of  deposits,  to  pro 
ject  colossal  schemes?  Again,  when  I 
talk  with  you,  I  can  understand  for  the 
first  time  how  there  can  be  such  great 
minds  in  women  as  that  of  Queen  Vic 
toria,  one  of  the  mightiest  rulers  the 
world  has  produced.  What  think  you, 
great  and  beautiful  lady,  of  my  chances 
of  coping  with  such  men  as  you  have 
described  ?" 

"  You  have  courage,  indomitable  will, 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  101 

and  the  facts.  You  have  only  one 
enemy,  which  you  control  admirably — a 
ferocious  wrath  at  natural  wrongs.  If 
you  have  discretion  in  equal  quantity 
with  self-control,  you  will  go  through 
your  ordeal  calmly,  and  convince  your 
accusers.  Perhaps  you  ought  to  con 
sult  eminent  counsel ;  but  in  this  city 
you  cannot  secure  any  such  ability 
which  is  not  already  in  the  pay  of  some 
one  of  the  interests  with  which  you 
must  cope.  Hence  you  had  best  cope 
alone ;  and  if  you  will  not  mind 
my  being  present  during  the  trial, 
perhaps  I  can  influence  my  father 
and  friends  in  your  behalf,  and  en- 


IO2  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

courage  them  to  make  you  one  of 
them." 

"  You  are  too  good,"  was  all  he  could 
say.  "Still,"  he  added  after  a  pause,  "  I 
can  see  how  escape  from  jail,  an  estab 
lishment  of  my  existence  and  a  return 
of  my  possessions  would  be  as  much  as 
the  wildest  fancy  could  hope  for,  and 
an  ordinary  man  like  myself  desire." 

He  arose,  took  the  very  tips  of  her 
fingers,  touched  them  gently  with  his 
lips,  and  retired. 

"  Poor  man !"  murmured  the  lady. 
"Why  is  it  I  feel  so  much  interest  in 
him,  and  how  can  I  save  him  from  the 
wolves?" 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  103 

Mr.  de  Land  entered  the  drawing- 
room.  "  Daughter,  have  you  seen  the 
baron  this  morning?" 

"  Yes,  father." 

"He  shows  no  disposition  to  escape?" 

She  flushed  indignantly.  "No,  in 
deed,  sir.  He  has  been  with  me,  up  to 
a  moment  ago,  for  more  than  an  hour." 

"  Oh,  he  is  your  prisoner.  Then  I 
will  discharge  the  officers  surrounding 
the  square." 

"  Do,  please,  father." 

"I  spoke  facetiously,  but  since  you 
seem  to  be  so  terribly  in  earnest,  per 
mit  me  to  add,  that  in  placing  him  on 
parole  under  your  charge,  if  he  be 


IO4  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

found  guilty,  you  must  turn  him  over 
to  the  officers  of  the  law ;  but  if  inno 
cent,  perhaps  you  had  best  make  him  a 
prisoner  for  life.  He  is  a  grand  noble, 
and  a  grander  gentleman." 


V. 

PRECISELY  the  same  gentlemen  assem 
bled  at  the  appointed  hour  as  had  pre 
viously  visited  the  baron  and  left  him 
without  that  recognition  of  his  identity 
which  was  now  so  vital  to  his  future. 
The  greetings  were  cool,  but  no  one 
was  more  calm  and  collected  than  the 
alleged  baron  himself.  After  a  few 
moments  of  general  conversation  Mr. 

Vanderpool   suggested  that  the  impro- 

105 


106  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

vised  court  proceed  with  its  session. 
Mrs.  and  Miss  de  Land  being  present, 
Mr.  de  Land  felt  it  incumbent  on  him 
to  ask  if  the  presence  of  ladies  was  de 
sirable  at  the  deliberations.  There  was 
a  unanimous  and  gallant  assent,  and  the 
baron  observed  that  doubtless  they 
would  be  necessary  as  witnesses. 

"  Sir,"  solemnly  remarked  Mr.  Moran, 
confronting  the  baron  and  not  so  much 
as  giving  him  a  name,  "  we  are  now 
ready  to  hear  what  you  may  have  to 
offer.  I  warn  you  to  stick  to  the  facts, 
as  we  are  not  men  to  be  trifled  with. 
We  are  prepared,  however,  at  the  out 
set,  to  offer  to  you  liberty  and  a  chance 


"Gentlemen,"  said  the  Baron,  "I  shall  not  depart  until  I  have 
established  that  I  am  Porzig  .  .  .  and  have  received  your  apolo 
gies." — Page  107. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  107 

to  depart,  providing  you  renounce  your 
absurd  claims." 

"  Gentlemen,"  replied  the  baron 
haughtily,  "  I  shall  not  depart  until  I 
have  established  that  I  am  Porzig,  have 
secured  my  rights,  and  received  your 
apologies.  As  my  evidence  is  mainly 
documentary,  may  I  request  you  to 
select  some  one  to  read  it  ?" 

"  I  will  call  in  my  private  secretary," 
said  Mr.  de  Land  ;  and  he  did  so. 

"  I  propose  first  to  offer  reports  of 
special  correspondents  in  the  news 
papers,"  announced  the  baron,  "  and 
will  ask  you  to  have  this  dispatch,  dated 
New  Dresden,  Idaho,  read." 


i  c8  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclont. 

The  gentlemen  looked  at  each  other 
in  astonishment.  u  We  will  listen  to 
such  reading,"  assented  Mr.  Moran, 
"  but  I  hope  for  your  own  sake  you  do 
not  intend  to  depend  upon  penny-a- 
liners." 

The  account  dealt  with  the  storm,  by 
an  eye-witness ;  and  the  secretary  read 
as  follows: 

"'  The  Porzig  ranch  is  located  in  the 
valley  known  as  New  Dresden.  Lofty 
elevations  surround  it.  This  section  of 
the  country  is  generally  conceded  to  be 
the  place  of  origin  of  blizzards  rather 
than  the  home  of  cyclones.  It  is  easy 
to  tell  from  observation  here  when  a 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  109 

storm  is  about  to  sweep  across  the  con 
tinent.  At  such  times  it  is  no  uncom 
mon  thing  to  see  long,  dark  clouds, 
very  narrow,  and  cylindrical  in  form, 
which  seem  to  whirl  clown  the  moun 
tains  in  a  rapid  zigzag  fashion,  like  a 
band  of  snakes,  instead  of  moving  hori 
zontally,  as  clouds  usually  do.  Never 
were  so  many  snake-like  clouds  seen 
wriggling  down  the  mountain  sides  as 
on  the  day  of  the  cyclone.  Gradually 
they  increased  in  number,  size,  and  ve 
locity,  until  blended  into  great  masses. 
Darkness  fell,  and  our  camping  party 
ascended  higher  up  on  the  mountain 
side,  hoping  to  get  above  the  torrents 


1 10  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

of  rain  which  we  expected  would  soon 
flood  all  the  water-ruts.  About  eleven 
o'clock  we  were  aroused  by  a  terrible 
roar  beneath  us,  where  the  lightning- 
was  so  vivid  and  continuous  that  every 
thing  was  as  visible  as  in  the  broad 
light  of  day.  Finally  we  saw  two  cy 
clones  approaching  from  opposite  direc 
tions.  One  was  actually  climbing  up 
the  valley  instead  of  down— a  phenome 
non  never  before  witnessed  at  these  al 
titudes.  We  could  see  two  masses  of 

cloud,  one  revolving  up  the  valley  and 

* 

the  other  down,  each  destroying  every 
thing  in  its  path.  We  were  terrified, 
and  wondered  what  would  happen  if 


"Among  the  strange  phenomena  which  the  lightning  exposed  to 
view  were  wooden  houses  floating  a  mile  high  ;  cattle,  sheep,  horses, 
wagons,  several  churches  ;  everything,  in  fact,  which  the  hamlet 
contained. "—Payc  111. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 1 1 

they  struck.  In  a  few  minutes  they 
collided  at  the  little  hamlet  of  New 
Dresden,  revolving  around  each  other 
and  causing  an  enormous  whirlwind. 
The  buildings,  stock,  and  trees  were 
ground  to  fragments — like  grain  be 
tween  the  upper  and  nether  millstones. 
Oceans  of  water  seemed  to  be  spontane 
ously  generated,  and  ingulfed  the  val 
ley.  Very  soon  debris  began  to  fly 
past,  and  at  one  time  we  feared  that 
our  cliff  would  be  caught  in  the  whirl 
wind.  Among  the  strange  phenomena 
which  the  lightning  exposed  to  view 
were  wooden  houses  floating  a  mile 
high  ;  cattle,  sheep,  horses,  some  with 


112  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

riders  thereon — no  doubt  the  cowboys 
who  act  as  night  watchmen ;  wagons, 
several  churches;  everything,  in  fact, 
which  the  hamlet  contained,  and  which 
was  not  a  part  of  the  earth  itself.  But 
one  thing  startled  us  more  than  all  else. 
It  was  a  bed,  with  what  seemed  to  be  a 
human  being  in  it,  which  suddenly 
took  fire  from  the  lightning,  and  yet 
did  not  seem  to  burn  up  like  the  dwell 
ings,  which  also  ignited  away  up  in  the 
sky.  In  fact,  it  looked  as  if  the  bed  and 
the  man  in  it  swept  safely  through  the 
flames  out  into  the  night.'  " 

At  this  point   Miss  de   Land  fainted 
and  the  men  sprang  to  their  feet,  gaz- 


"It   was   a   bed,    with    what   seemed    to   be    a   human    form    in   it, 
which  suddenly  took  fire. "-   Paye  112. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 1 3 

ing  at  the  baron  with  horror  as  they 
remembered  the  bed  on  the  roof.  He 
was  quite  calm ;  and  taking  Miss  de 
Land  gently  in  his  arms,  placed  her  on 
a  sofa. 

"  The  account  is  of  no  impor 
tance  now,  gentlemen,"  the  ban  n 
remarked ;  "  we  must  restore  Miss  de 
Land." 

Maids  were  called,  restoratives  ap 
plied,  after  which  the  young  lady  re 
vived.  She  opened  her  eyes  and 
grasped  the  baron's  hand. 

"  Oh  !  you  are  safe,"  she  said  in  tones 
of  terror.  "  I  am  so  glad !  I  am  so 
glad  !" 


114  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

"  Calm  yourself,  my  child,"  said  the 
father  tenderly. 

"  And  look  with  contempt  on  your 
emotions,"  suggested  the  baron .  in  a 
whisper  which  no  one  of  the  assembly 
heard,  and  at  the  same  time  showing  in 
his  speaking  eyes  the  depth  of  his  grati 
tude  for  her  sympathy,  which  had  so 
overpowered  her. 

After  a  few  moments  the  assem 
bly  seemed  to  be  restored  to  its  nor 
mal  condition;  but  before  proceedings 
were  commenced  again  Mr.  Moran  re 
marked, 

"  Newspaper  men  are  such  exagger- 
ators,  such  deft  magnifiers  of  mole-hills 


"He  was  quite  calm  ;  and  taking  Miss  de  Land  gently  in  his  arms, 
placed  her  on  a  sofa.1' — Paye  113. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 1 5 

into  mountains,  that  if  you  propose  to 
depend  on  them  to  vindicate  you,  and 
expect  us  to  believe  what  they  say, 
you  are  a  victim  of  a  misapprehen 
sion." 

The  baron  deigned  no  reply.  He 
merely  handed  the  secretary  another 
clipping  from  an  Associated  Press  de 
spatch.  The  reader  continued : 

"  This  despatch  is  dated  at  New 
Dresden,  from  an  improvised  telegraph 
office,  and  is  relative  to  the  Baron  Franz 
Porzig.  It  says :  The  *  baron  has  long 
been  a  well-known  character  in  this 
part  of  the  world.  His  bravery  terri 
fied  the  outlaws.  When  he  first  came 


n6  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

here  as  a  tenderfoot,  a  band  of  stock 
thieves  prepared  a  descent  upon  him 
in  broad  daylight.  It  may  not  be 
known  to  the  public  that  there  is  a 
large  and  thoroughly  organized  associa 
tion  of  stock  thieves  operating  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  with  headquarters  in 
New  Mexico.  The  desperadoes  are 
regularly  employed,  and  are  paid  sala 
ries.  The  heads  of  the  concern  com 
prise  three  gentlemen  well  known  in 
politics,  two  of  whom  live  in  New  York 
City,  and  one  in  New  Mexico  on  a 
ranch.  The  two  New  Yorkers  are 
leaders  in  the  councils  of  one  of  the 
political  parties,  and  are  known  as 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 1 7 

presidential-nominee  makers.  Although 
by  persistence  they  have  nominated 
their  man,  they  have  never  succeeded 
in  electing  him.  The  third  gentleman, 
resident  in  New  Mexico,  once  actually 
controlled  an  important  branch  of  the 
public  service  which  at  one  time  was 
the  subject  of  the  greatest  scandal  which 
has  ever  been  exposed  and  snowed  un 
der  at  Washington.  The  organization 
has  gangs  of  stock  thieves  operating  in 
all  the  Territories.  The  stock,  as  fast 
as  stolen,  is  hastily  driven  away,  loaded 
at  some  convenient  railway  station, 
shipped  direct  to  the  sea-coast,  thence 
to  Europe,  where  it  is  sold.  From  the 


1 1 8  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

proceeds  of  these  thefts  and  sales  the 
triumvirate  are  enabled  to  live  in  lux 
ury,  and  by  their  ill-gotten  gains  ac 
quire  control  of  railways,  gas  and  other 
corporations,  to  say  nothing  of  opening 
barrels  in  political  campaigns  and  influ 
encing  the  appointment  of  Territorial 
officials,  who  decide  questions  to  suit 
their  interests,  -and  discharge  their 
thieves  when  arrested. 

"'It  was  one  of  these  gangs  which 
leisurely  rode  up  to  the  ranch  of  Baron 
Porzig  one  day  to  kill  him,  intimidate 
his  employees,  and  loot  his  stock. 
They  commenced  firing  at  the  baron 
on  sight.  He  hastened  to  his  house, 


"At  every  shot  he  made  a  bandit  was  blown  to  fragments."— Page  119. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  119 

and  immediately  reappeared  with  his 
rifle.  At  every  shot  he  made  a  bandit 
was  blown  to  fragments.  He  used  ex 
plosive  cartridges,  which  he  had  found 
best  in  combats  with  grizzly  bears. 
After  the  fragments  of  a  dozen  bandits 
and  as  many  horses  had  been  scattered 
over  several  acres  of  ground,  the  re 
mainder  of  the  gang  hastened  to  get 
out  of  range.  He  only  received  a 
slight  contusion  in  the  leg,  and  was 
never  again  molested  by  any  one.  The 
terrible  fame  of  his  marksmanship 
spread  all  over  the  Wild  West.  His 
loss  to  the  Territory  of  Idaho  is  univer 
sally  deplored.  He  employed  a  large 


120  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

number  of  cowboys,  and  paid  them 
promptly  and  well.  Not  one  of  these 
men,  not  one  bullock  of  his  vast  herds, 
escaped.  The  baron  himself  was  seen 
on  the  day  of  his  frightful  demise  at  a 
little  settlement  twelve  miles  from  New 
Dresden,  by  all  its  inhabitants.  He  was 
over  there  making  purchases,  and  is 
positively  known  to  have  gone  to  his 
home  and  to  have  been  in  bed  when  the 
cyclone  struck  the  ranch." 

"There!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Vander- 
pool.  "  That  shows  that  the  baron 
was  at  New  Dresden,  and  a  victim  of 
the  cyclone.  Why  read  further  ?" 

"You   forget  the   mention   of  a   bed 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  121 

with  a  man  in  it,"  replied  the  Baron 
calmly.  "  I  desire  to  call  your  atten 
tion  to  this  clipping." 

Again  the  secretary  continued  : 
"  This  despatch  is  dated  Isle  Royal, 
Lake  Superior.  It  reads:  'The  great 
cyclone  which  started  in  the  valley  of 
New  Dresden,  Idaho,  last  night,  passed 
over  this  island  to-day.  It  has  left  a 
wide  path  of  wrecks.  At  the  border 
of  Lake  Superior  it  ascended  high  over 
our  heads.  For  miles  in  the  air  can 
be  seen  houses,  trees,  sheep,  horses, 
cattle,  and  what  looks  like  men.  The 
most  remarkable  spectacle,  however, 
is  a  bed,  containing  a  man,  and  fully 


122  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

one  mile  high,  above  all  other  forms 
of  debris.  It  is  sailing  with  fright 
ful  rapidity  in  the  vortex  of  the  cv- 
clone.  The  mangled  remains  of  stock 
and  men  are  being  reported  by  the 
fishermen,  who  are  hastening  in  from 
their  nets.  These  remains  come  plung 
ing  down  into  the  lake,  as  do  also  other 
objects,  making  their  trips  exceedingly 
dangerous.  A  number  of  dead  cow 
boys,  rigidly  fastened  to  dead  and 
mangled  bronchos,  the  riders  erect  and 
looking  like  spectres,  can  be  seen  oc 
casionally  plunging  into  the  lake 
around  the  island.' ' 

"  I  don't  believe  that  stuff,"  growled 


"A  number  of  dead  cowboys,  rigidly  fastened  to  dead  and 
mangled  bronchos,  the  riders  erect  and  looking  like  spectres,  can 
be  seen  occasionally  plunging  into  the  lake  around  the  island/' 

—Paye  122. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  123 

Surgeon  Banks;  "it's    too    Mulhatton- 

ian." 

"  But  all  the  papers  have  it,  and  from 
a  dozen  different  correspondents,"  calm 
ly  remarked  the  baron.  "  I  know  it 
to  be  true." 

"  How  do  you  know  such  a  yarn  as 
that  to  be  true?"  asked  the  surgeon 
politely. 

"  I  saw  the  scene  described  ;  it  was 
more  horrible  than  it  has  been  de 
picted." 

"  You  saw  it !"  all  gasped. 

"  I  did." 

"  It  is  as  I  feared,"  remarked  Mr. 
Moran.  "  We  are  wasting  time  either 


i  24  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone, 

with  a  lunatic  or  a  desperate  adven 
turer." 

Surgeon  Banks  arose  and  made  a 
critical  examination  of  the  baron's 
head  while  all  watched  the  proceed 
ing. 

"  Gentlemen,"  decided  the  surgeon 
at  last,  "  I  pronounce  the  prisoner 
entirely  sane.  I  fear,  however,  that 
he  loves  a  joke." 

"And  on  such  an  occasion,  too,"  re 
marked  Mr.  Blest,  solemnly. 

"  Unless  the  accused  changes  his  tac 
tics  and  offers  reasonable  evidence,  I 
do  not  see  how  it  can  be  to  his  advan 
tage  or  ours  to  continue  the  session/' 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  12$ 

said    Mr.    Moran.     "  Sir,   again  let   me 
offer  you  your  freedom." 

The  baron  turned  appealingly  to 
Miss  de  Land,  but  whether  his  glance 
requested  her  advice  about  accepting 
the  proposition,  or  was  in  reference  to 
his  persecution,  she  failed  to  make 
out.  However,  believing  that  he 
meant  the  latter,  she  remarked 
sweetly,  "This  is  more  interesting 
than  a  novel,  opera,  or  play.  Do  let 
us  have  the  remainder  of  the  baron's 
story." 

The  gentlemen  gallantly  assented, 
and  the  baron  expressed  his  gratitude 
to  her  in  a  speaking  glance.  He  hand- 


126  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

ed    another  clipping    to  the  secretary, 
who  read : 

"  Despatch,  dated  Mexico  Point 
Life-saving  Station,  Mexico  Bay,  Lake 
Ontario,  sixteen  miles  east  of  Oswego, 
N.  Y. :  '  The  second  night  of  the  great 
cyclone  is  setting  in.  Shipping  has 
been  swept  out  of  existence  by  the 
wholesale.  The  path  of  the  cyclone's 
wrecks  is  now  twenty-three  hundred 
miles  long,  but  only  in  the  very  upper 
currents  are  tremendous  active  energies 
visible.  The  lake  at  this  point  pre 
sents  only  a  furious  gale,  and  so  far 
we  have  rescued  but  three  crews,  and 
not  more  than  six  vessels  are  to  be 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  127 

seen  flying  flags  of  distress.  One 
vessel  was  dashed  against  the  bold, 
rocky  projections  at  Nine-Mile  Point. 
Another  was  thrown  high  and  dry  on 
the  sands  of  Big  Sandy  Beach.  The 
third,  borne  on  the  crest  of  a  moun 
tainous  wave  for  a  time,  suddenly 
settled  in  the  trough  of  the  sea,  and 
struck  the  outer  bar  a  half  mile  from 
the  Point.  This 'is  the  first  wreck  of 
the  kind  known  to  the  section.  The 
outer  bar  has  eighteen  feet  of  water 
this  year,  because  the  lake  is  at  its 
highest  mark.  Nothing  short  of  a 
tidal  wave  could  have  been  followed 
by  a  trough  so  deep  as  to  project  a 


128  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

vessel  against  the  shoal.  The  wave, 
however,  was  terrific.  It  swept  inland 
for  over  a  mile,  nearly  ingulfing  the 
hamlet  of  Texas,  tore  down  fences, 
uprooted  trees,  unsettled  buildings, 
and  in  following  up  the  bed  of  the 
Little  Salmon  River,  struck  the  mill- 
dam  at  Texas  and  forced  it  up  stream 
for  more  than  a  mile,  where  it  rests 
solidly,  and  has  created  a  new  pond 
on  valley  land  of  a  farmer  where  he 
raised  the  best  crops  in  the  county. 
While  he  is  threatening  to  sue  every 
body,  from  the  postmaster  up  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  for 
damages,  the  miller  is  bemoaning  his 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 29 

fate  that  his  mill  was  not  also  carried 
along  and  set  down  by  the  dam  in  its 
proper  place.  The  summer-resorters 
here  who  are  housed  on  a  high  plateau 
have  been  nearly  scared  out  of  their 
accustomed  appetites,  but  none  of  them 
were  hurt. 

"  '  Lake  Erie  escaped,  but  the  upper 
end  of  Ontario  suffered  immense  dam 
age.  Very  little  debris  is  visible  in 
the  air.  It  is  composed  mostly  of 
light  articles,  such  as  boards,  barrels, 
sections  of  houses,  sails,  and  rigging. 
The  bed  which  has  been  reported  at 
all  points  as  passing  at  a  great  altitude 
with  terrific  speed,  and  which  some 


130  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

correspondents  claim  contains  a  man, 
is  now  floating  overhead.  The  figure 
of  a  man  is  visible  in  it,  sitting  upright. 
It  cannot  be  a  chimera.  Hundreds  of 
people  are  looking  at  the  poor  fellow 
with  field-glasses.  These  people  are 
summer  resorters  of  well-known  stand 
ing  in  the  societies  of  their  respective 
cities.  As  seen  through  a  field-glass, 
the  man  has  a  heavy  head  of  hair, 
undoubtedly  black,  and  a  full  beard, 
parted  in  the  middle  and  brushed 
either  way.  He  is  alive,  and  no  doubt 
enjoying  his  novel  ride,  unless  he  feels 
like  the  Irishman  who  fell  out  of  a  tree 
and  broke  his  arms  and  legs.  '  Faith,' 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 3 1 

said  he,  when  picked  up,  '  sure  an'  the 
fallin'  was  plissant  enough,  but  the 
strikin'  was  what  did  the  business/ 
The  current  of  air  has  shifted,  and  is 
bearing  the  bed  toward  New  York 
City  at  about  thirty  miles  per  hour. 
You  may  find  the  air  sailor  on  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge  in  the  morning, 
.waiting  for  his  breakfast.'" 

"  What  rotten  nonsense !"  again 
growled  Doctor  Banks. 

"  It  is  all  true  so  far  as  I  am  con 
cerned,"  affirmed  the  baron,  sternly. 
"  I  can  see  it  all  now.  Of  course,  I  will 
not  approve  of  that  mill-dam  story." 

"  It  is  a  wonder  you  have  not  already 


132  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

claimed  to  be  the   man    in   the   bed," 
sneered  the  surgeon. 

"  I  shall  not  merely  claim  it.  You 
yourself  will  be  the  first  to  acknowl 
edge  it." 

"  I  will  lay  you  a  wager  on  such  an 
absurd  claim  being  established,"  re 
marked  Mr.  de  Land,  who,  with  the 
ladies,  had  been  a  quiescent  spectator 
of  the  proceedings. 

"  Done,"  replied  the  baron. 

"  Well,  what  shall  the  wager  be  ? 
We  have  plenty  of  witnesses." 

The  baron  thought  a  moment,  ner 
vously  glancing  at  Miss  de  Land.  "  This 
shall  be  the  wager.  If  it  is  not  clearly 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  133 

proved  that  I  was  carried  from  New 
Dresden  to  New  York  by  the  cyclone, 
I  will  deed  to  you  and  your  heirs  and 
assigns  forever,  all  of  my  property,  real 
and  personal,  and  thereafter  beg  for  a 
living.  If,  on  the  contrary,  each  and 
all  of  you  admit  that  I  was  borne  here 
by  the  cyclone,  you  are  to  give  to  me 
the  hand  of  your  daughter  in  mar 
riage." 

"  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  accept 
the  wager,"  laughed  Mr.  de  Land,  de 
lighted  at  this  turn  of  affairs,  and  decid 
ing  that  he  should  be  glad  of  such  an 
alliance  at  any  cost,  if  this  proved  to  be 
the  real  Porzig. 


1 34  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

Miss  de  Land  arose,  a  picture  of 
superb  scorn  and  indignation ;  she  was 
almost  weeping  with  rage.  "  So  !"  she 
exclaimed,  "  you  dare  to  bargain  me  off 
as  if  I  were  a  race-horse,  and  before 
people."  She  abruptly  left  the  room. 

"  Marie !"  gently  called  the  mother. 

"  You  are  perfectly  safe,  if  you  don't 
want  him/'  laughed  the  father, 

The  gentlemen  looked  at  each  other 
with  smiles,  wondering  what  the  baron 
would  do,  and  for  the  first  time  were 
disposed  in  his  favor,  because  if  he 
should  marry  Miss  de  Land  he  would 
become  one  of  the  financial  ring. 


Marie  !  M  gently  called  the  mother.  — Pu(;e  134. 


VI. 

AFTER  the  incident  described,  and 
the  abrupt  departure  of  Miss  de  Land, 
the  baron  became  moody  and  de 
pressed.  There  was  a  lull  in  the  pro 
ceedings  for  some  time,  but  the  mem 
bers  conversed  in  whispers. 

"  He  is  no  maniac,  nor  imbecile;  nor 
is  his  mind  the  least  obscured  or  daft," 
Surgeon  Banks  insisted. 

"  But  he  must  know  that  we  cannot 

accept    such    preposterous     evidence," 

135 


136  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

snarled  Mr.  Moran.  "  We  all  know 
that  if  he  is  not  the  genuine  baron, 
there  never  was  one." 

The  whispers  were  interrupted  by  a 
startling  announcement  from  a  digni 
fied  flunkey  in  gorgeous  livery,  who  en 
tered  the  room  with  a  big  salver  piled 
high  with  cards. 

"  One  hundred  representatives  of  the 
press !"  he  thundered. 

*•  Reporters  be  damned !"  said  Mr. 
Vanderpool  in  alarm. 

"  What  say  you  ?  shall  we  admit  of 
this  intrusion?"  demanded  Mr.  de  Land 
of  the  baron. 

"  They  are  my  witnesses,  my  best  of 


"One  hundred  reporters  of  the  press,"  he  thundered.— 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  137 

friends  in  this  ordeal.  Have  they  not 
already  proved  that  I  retired  in  my 
bed  on  the  night  of  the  cyclone  at  New 
Dresden,  and  was  seen  floating  in  it  up 
to  within  three  hundred  miles  of  New 
York  ?  If  the  decision  must  come  from 
me,  let  them  in  by  all  means." 

"  They  are  a  lot  of  beasts,"  remarked 
Mr.  de  Land  contemptuously,  "  but  let 
them  come  in." 

The  baron  gained  new  courage  when 
the  reportorial  corps  was  announced. 
He  had  innocently  imagined  that  the 
evidence  he  had  already  presented,  to 
gether  with  the  fact  of  his  being  found 
on  the  roof  in  his  own  bed,  would  be 


138  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

evidence  sufficient  to  convince  the  most 
skeptical  and  unreasonable.  In  this  he 
was  completely  mistaken.  As  a  conse 
quence  he  fell  into  a  revery  and  thought 
in  the  following  vein :  He  was  dealing 
with  men  of  whom  it  was  sufficient  to 
say,  as  Miss  de  Land  had  intimated, 
that  they  were  New  York  business-men. 
He  could  see  now  that  she  had  not  only 
dissected  the  species  accurately,  but 
that  she  had  omitted  much  concerning 
them  which  events  had  developed. 
They  were  men  whose  words  were 
gold  and  could  be  relied  upon,  yet  their 
motto  was,  "  All  fair  in  business."  They 
scrupled  at  nothing,  either  to  make 


\ 


As  a  consequence,  be  fell  into  a  revery." — Page  138. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 39 

money  or  retain  it.  They  secured  and 
retained  money,  even  at  the  expense  of 
truth  and  justice,  with  a  disregard  for 
equities  which  amounted  to  crime,  if 
such  acts  could  be  sustained  by  the  ef 
forts  of  their  counsel  before  juries  and 
judges.  Judges  are  often  very  humane 
in  this  century,  that  is,  humane  in  the 
sense  of  being  very  human.  They  have 
been  known  to  lie  awake  nights  to  find 
technicalities  and  legal  holes  whereby 
men  whose  money  and  prestige  put 
them  in  office  could  receive  a  favorable 
decision.  They  were  often  sustained 
in  deciding  against  the  equities  and  law 
in  a  case  by  the  division  of  popular 


140  A  Ride  011  a  Cyclone. 

clamor,  secured  by  a  division  of  the 
leading  dailies.  Two  great  dailies 
fighting  on  opposite  sides  of  a  subject 
is  naturally  supposed  to  mean  that 
there  is  a  division  of  public  opinion, 
as  a  newspaper  by  right  stands  to 
represent  the  views  of  its  subscrib 
ers,  else  they  would  not  subscribe  to 
the  paper.  Laws  in  these  stirring 
times  are  made  for  the  rich  and  influ 
ential,  for  the  protection  of  incorpora 
tions  and  of  great  interests  ;  the  small 
fry,  the  poor,  the  little  fishes,  have 
no  laws  ;  or  if  there  are  some  on  the 
statute-books  for  them,  there  are  ways 
of  misconstruing  such  laws  in  favor  of 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  141 

r 

him  who  carries  the  biggest  pocket- 
book.  Those  of  the  poor  who  secure 
the  passage  of  laws  in  their  favor,  do  so 
only  when  they  combine  in  large  voting 
unions  and  hold  up  their  votes  as  a 
menace  against  oppression.  It  may  be 
that  these  things  are  for  the  best;  it 
may  be  that  the  man  who  represents  a 
big  purse  intrinsically  represents  greater 
interests  than  one  poor  man  who  only 
represents  himself  and  his  one  interest, 
and  is  therefore  void  of  rights  which 
courts  are  bound  to  respect.  It  may  be 
that  these  seemingly  gigantic  wrongs 
are,  after  all,  inspirations  for  a  poor  man 
either  to  become  rich  and  powerful,  or 


142  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

to  so  educate  his  son  and  aid  him  that 
he  may  acquire  power  through  his 
progeny.  It  may  be  that  Darwin  was 
right,  that  life  is  a  struggle  and  a  sur 
vival  of  the  fittest ;  that  the  rich  grow 
richer  and  the  poor  poorer ;  that  small 
families  are  crowded  out  and  large 
families  increase  in  size,  and  that  conse 
quently  the  Smiths  are  becoming  so 
numerous  that  some  day  the  world  will 
be  made  up  only  of  Smiths.  It  may  be 
that  everything  which  oppresses  and 
leads  to  suicide  ;  that  drunkenness  which 
drives  so  many  under  ground ;  that  cy 
clones  which  kill  so  many  people ;  to 
gether  with  railway  accidents,  sickness, 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  143 

and  everything  which  destroys,  only 
make  room  for  other  people.  I  merely 
say  that  all  this  may  be  true.  If  so— if 
it  is  really  the  law  of  nature  that  "  'tis 
fate,  the  weakest  die,  the  strongest 
grow  and  multiply,"  then  judges  and 
juries  and  laws  are  certainly  justified 
in  only  assisting  those  who  are  best 
fitted  to  survive,  and  thereby,  in  the 
case  of  the  judges,  gain  powerful  allies 
to  accomplish  their  own  survival  on  the 
bench.  Let  us  be  broad  enough  to 
admit  that  many  of  these  principals  are 
obvious  and  prevail  to  a  large  extent, 
and  that  they  really  inspire  us  to  toil 
for  wealth,  power,  and  greatness  with 


144  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

which,  in  some  cases,  to  work  for  the 
good  of  mankind,  and  in  other  cases  to 
accomplish  evil.  Let  us  also  be  broad 
and  reasonable  sufficiently  to  admit 
that  there  are  no  great  evils  not  pro 
ductive  of  equally  great  good.  Did 
not  the  conflagration  of  Chicago  result 
in  the  greatest  good  not  only  to  that 
city  but  to  all  the  western  country  ? 
Did  not  the  stupendous  stealings  of 
Boss  Tweed  result  in  Central  Park,  the 
most  beautiful  area  on  the  globe,  where 
two  hundred  thousand  people  often 
secure  air  and  exercise  on  a  single 
Sunday ;  where  Terrace  Bridge  stands 
unique  among  structures  of  its  kind  as 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  145 

the  most  wonderful  piece  of  architec 
ture  in  the  world ;  where  the  best  ar 
tistic  creations  of  the  world  are  stored  ; 
where  beauty,  grace,  and  enchantment 
abound  for  every  glance  of  the  eye,  and 
everything  is  pleasing  to  every  one  of 
the  human  senses  ?  Would  Washington 
be  the  beautiful  city  that  it  is  had  not 
one  man  seen  an  opportunity  to  divide 
immense  appropriations  with  contrac 
tors?  Is  it  better,  after  all,  to  have 
strictly  pure  elections,  -or  to  have  ten 
to  fifteen  millions  taken  from  the  coffers 
of  the  rich  and  distributed  among  the 
poor  voters  to  provide  their  families 
with  the  necessaries  of  life  even  on  a 


146  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

quasi  illegal  bas's?  Was  it  better  or 
worse  that  Nero  should  destroy  Rome, 
and  with  it,  in  one  fell  swoop,  its 
monstrous  and  universal  crimes  against 
nature,  its  citizens  run  mad  with  volupt 
uous  wickedness,  and  that  all  should  be 
swallowed  up  in  a  maelstrom  of  flame  ? 
Was  it  wrong  to  put  the  negro  in 
shackles  and  at  the  right  time  to  sweep 
the  unclean  presence  of  slavery  from  off 
the  face  of  the  earth,  when  by  so  doing, 
and  only  by  so  doing,  the  races  of  can 
nibalistic  blacks  were  brought  into  con 
tact  with  civilizations  and  given  an 
opportunity  to  evolve  from  wild  beasts 
into  men,  and  free  men  at  that?  These 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  147 

are  great  questions.  It  is  not  for  me  to 
answer  them  at  this  time  and  place — per 
haps  never.  I  only  insist  that  you  shall 
confront  the  conditions  of  life  as  they 
actually  exist,  and  not  view  mere  seem 
ing  wrong  from  a  pessimistic  stand 
point.  What  is  wrong?  What  is  right? 
Are  not  these  undefinable  terms  ?  Are 
they  not  terms  which  every  individual 
defines  for  himself,  sometimes,  but 
mostly  for  the  conduct  of  others  ?  Are 
they  not  mere  local  terms  like  the 
words  Time  and  Space — things  that  do 
not  exist  except  for  local  convenience  ? 
Is  there  anything  tangible  ?  Do  two 
and  two  make  four  when  there  are  no 


148  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

two  things  alike  in  all  this  universe? 
Are  there  not,  admittedly,  spheres 
where  two  and  two  could  not  possibly 
make  four  in  the  sense  with  which  we 
apply  the  addition  here  on  this  earth, 
false  and  unreasonable  as  it  is  ?  Could 
anything  we  can  possibly  do  or  con 
ceive  on  this  earth  by  any  means  be 
made  to  apply  to  any  other  sphere  in 
the  heavens?  What  a  worm  you  are, 
O  man !  what  an  animal !  In  public  the 
type  of  a  man,  in  private  the  lowest 
type  of  animal,  base  with  passions,  un 
clean,  unchaste.  You  assume  every- 
thing,  and  have  never  proved  much  of 
anything.  Your  governments,  your 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  149 

forms  of  religion,  your  mathematics, 
your  science,  everything  you  believe  in, 
are  based  on  assumptions  of  your  own 
assuming,  and  no  two  of  you  agree  even 
on  these  assumptions.  Therefore  be 
reasonable,  and  try  to  face  the  several 
sides  of  all  questions  with  fairness  and 
justice  to  all,  and  look  with  calm 
ness  on  the  individual  make-up  of 
the  great  court  which  daily  tries  your 
case. 

The  baron  was  aroused  from  the 
deep,  far-reaching  revery  into  which  he 
he  had  almost  unconsciously  become 
plunged  by  the  entrance  of  the  report 
ers,  who  came  in  quietly  and  regarded 


1 50  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

the  group  in  silence.  They  were  evi 
dently  organized  with  a  leader  and 
spokesman,  knew  what  to  do,  and  did 
it. 

"  Which  of  these  gentlemen,  please, 
is  the  proprietor  of  the  house  ?" 

"  I  have  that  honor,  gentlemen,"  re 
plied  Mr.  de  Land.  "  If  you  will  per 
mit  me  to  make  a  remark,  I  was  saying 
a  moment  ago  that  reporters  are  beasts. 
I  beg  to  change  the  form  of  that  expres 
sion  and  admit  that  I  am  the  beast  in 
this  case.  You  appear  to  be  well- 
dressed  men  and  gentlemen ;  in  fact,  I 
recognize  several  of  you  as  sons  of  our 
best  families.  Now,  if  you  will  respect 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 5 1 

the  sanctity  of  my  home  in  your 
accounts,  we  shall  be  glad  to  know 
why  you  came,  and  what  we  can  do 
for  you." 

The  remarks  caused  a  sensation 
among  the  fraternity. 

"  As  the  spokesman  representing  the 
party  as  well  as  the  Associated  Press," 
remarked  the  first  speaker,  "  I  must  say 
that  after  your  kind  greeting  we  can 
only  exonerate  you,  as  you  have  us, 
from  being  a  beast,  and  also  certify  that 
you  are  a  well-dressed  man  and  a  gen 
tleman,  besides  being  surrounded  by  the 
fathers  of  our  best  families." 

There    were    smiles    all    around,   in 


152  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone, 

which  Mr.  de  Land  shared,  and  the 
good  humor  of  all  was  restored. 

"  You  have  no  doubt  been  interested 
in  the  cyclone,  as  it  is  now  the  leading 
topic  of  the  times.  In  brief,  I  beg  to 
present  to  you  Charles  M.  Tower, 
Captain  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  Army,  in 
charge  of  the  Harbor  Improvements  of 
the  Port  of  New  York.  He  has  kindly 
consented  to  come  with  us  and  make  a 
statement  in  order  to  assist  us  in  solv 
ing  the  most  remarkable  mystery  with 
which  the  press  has  ever  had  to 
deal." 

Captain  Tower  came  forward,  his  face 
bearing  every  mark  of  humiliation, 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  i$3 

which  for  a  moment  his  auditors  could 
not  understand. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  when  I  con 
sented  to  accompany  the  reporters,  I 
was  not  aware  that  I  should  enter  a 
house  where  I  have  been  a  guest,  and 
find  myself  without  invitation  in  the 
presence  of  leaders  of  society  who  have 
entertained  me  at  their  homes.  It  is 
a  serious  breach  of  etiquette,  to  which 
no  Army  officer  desires  to  be  a  party." 

"  Captain  Tower,"  said  Mr.  de  Land, 
"you  have  always  been  a  welcome 
guest  at  my  house  ;  and  if  I  apprehend 
the  case,  the  chances  are  that  you  have 
never  been  more  welcome  than  you  are 


1 54  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

on  this  serious  occasion.  If  you  have 
anything  to  say,  I  beg  that  you  will 
proceed,  knowing  that  in  so  doing  you 
may  do  an  act  of  the  greatest  conse 
quences,  and  for  good." 

"That  being  the  case,  I  am  glad  to 
be  here.  In  brief,  I  have  to  say,  that 
of  late  the  United  States  Corps  of  En 
gineers  has  been  occupying  the  west 
tower  of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge  as  an 
observing  station,  getting  our  azimuth 
and  connecting  our  harbor  operations 
with  the  triangulation  work  of  the 
U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey.  We 
have  there  the  largest  theodolite  ever 
made.  At  dawn  the  other  morning  the 


I  was   observing  and  my  attention   was   attracted  by  what  first 
appeared  to  be  a  large  bird."—  -Paye  155. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  l$$ 

telescope  of  this  big  instrument  was 
pointed  north,  with  the  vernier  scale 
set  on  the  heliotrope  on  Mt.  Marcy. 
I  was  observing  and  my  attention  was 
attracted  by  what  at  first  appeared  to 
be  a  large  bird  sailing  toward  this  city 
high  in  the  air.  As  it  came  nearer,  I 
was  astounded  to  define  the  outlines  of 
a  bed,  and  finally  of  a  man  in  it.  The 
bed  descended  slowly,  and  landed  on  .a 
roof  in  this  square.  I  saw  that  the 
strange  arrival  created  a  commotion, 
was  surrounded  by  people  who,  with 
the  man,  descended  through  the  scuttle. 
For  several  days — not  until  to-day,  in 
fact — I  said  nothing  about  the  matter; 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

but  seeing  the  strenuous  efforts  of  the 
press  to  find  out  the  fate  of  the  man 
borne  in  this  direction  by  the  cyclone, 
I  thought  it  my  duty,  in  behalf  of 
humanity,  to  inform  the  newspapers  of 
what  I  saw,  and  have  the  affair  investi 
gated.  You  have  no  doubt  read  the 
startling  accounts  as  to  how  this  man 
travelled  hither,  and  whence  he  came. 
If  the  accident  by  which  I  noted  his 
arrival  in  New  York  shall  in  any  way 
assist  to  unravel  the  mystery  of  this 
strange  adventure  in  air,  and  be  a  help 
to  the  man  or  his  friends,  I  shall  be 
truly  glad." 

"  Captain  Tower,"  said  Mr.  de  Land, 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  157 

rising  and  grasping  the  hand  of  the 
officer,  "  you  have  rendered  a  service 
not  only  to  one  greatly  endangered 
individual,  but  to  humanity  at  large. 
Gentlemen  of  the  press,  I  have 
the  honor  of  presenting  to  you  the 
Baron  Franz  Porzig  of  New  Dres 
den." 

"  Porzig  !"  cried  the  reporters  in  sur 
prise  and  horror. 

"  Ah !"  exclaimed  Doctor  Banks, 
"have  I  indeed  lived  to  see  reporters 
unmanned?" 

"But  it  is  so  horrible,"  retorted 
several,  trying  to  be  calm. 

"  We  think  it  a  mighty  escape,"  said 


158  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

Mr.  Moran,  unable  to  discredit  such 
distinguished  evidence. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  he  of  the  Asso 
ciated  Press,  "let  us  have  the  narra 
tive  of  the  baron  concerning  his  aerial 
trip." 

"Good!"  cried  all. 

The  baron  glanced  triumphantly  at 
Mr.  de  Land,  then  turned  his  face, 
beaming  with  joy,  to  the  doorway, 
where  he  could  distinguish  the  graceful 
form  of  Miss  de  Land. 

"  When  I  awoke  in  your  beautiful 
city  the  other  morning  I  imagined  my 
self  at  home  in  New  Dresden,  glad  to 
escape  from  what  had  seemed  to  be  a 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  1 59 

terrible  dream.  The  sudden  realization 
that  I  was  over  twenty-five  hundred 
miles  from  where  I  had  retired  but 
two  nights  previously  nearly  drove 
me  mad.  During  all  that  trip  I  could 
not  once  convince  myself  that  I  was 
really  awake,  and  so  did  not  enjoy  it 
as  I  should  do  at  another  time,  if  I  had 
the  opportunity.  After  several  hours, 
what  seemed  to  be  a  horrible  dream 
came  back  to  me  in  vivid  reality.  The 
story  is  brief,  as  it  has  been  accurately 
gathered  by  a  line  of  bright  corre 
spondents  from  whom  nothing  has  es 
caped  I  was  aroused  at  midnight  by 
my  house  taking  a  plunge  into  space 


160  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

and  then  breaking  into  pieces.  My  bed, 
however,  was  held  firmly  in  the  vor 
tex  of  the  cyclone,  and  as  I  was  hurled 
along  like  a  shell  from  a  dynamite  gun, 
I  thought  I  should  be  drowned.  No 
sooner  would  I  become  thoroughly 
drenched  than  the  lightning  would 
dry  out  and  shrivel  up  my  bed.  The 
bedstead  was  burned  very  soon  in  my 
flight,  but  the  mattress,  and  clothing, 
made  of  asbestos,  which,  as  you  know, 
is  non-inflammable,  were  preserved.  At 
times  I  travelled  at  such  speed  that  it 
was  necessary  to  cover  my  nostrils  to 
retain  my  breath.  Over  Isle  Royal 
I  was  a  witness  to  the  heart  rending 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  161 

destruction  of  my  stock  and  cowboys. 
I  think  the  entire  population  of  New 
Dresden,  together  with  my  stock  and 
cowboys,  were  carried  to  Lake  Superior 
and  thrown  in.  I  sincerely  hope  that 
some  have  escaped  death,  but  I  doubt 
it.  I  surely  expected  to  be  killed  by  a 
fall,  but  the  mattress  being  of  the  in 
flated  kind,  came  down  gently  while  I 
was  asleep.  That  is  all  that  it  is  neces 
sary  for  me  to  relate,  as  you  already 
know  the  details.  I  had  no  fears  after 
a  few  moments,  supposing  it  at  the  time 
all  a  mad  dream.  Fear  was  an  after 
development,  and  on  account  of  the 
results." 


1 62  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

The  reporters  soon  hurried  away  to 
prepare  their  accounts. 

"  Gentlemen,"  demanded  the  baron, 
"  have  I  won  my  wager  ?"  There  was 
a  unanimous  assent,  with  the  proviso 
that  delivery  of  the  reward  might  give 
considerable  trouble.  The  surgeon 
was,  however,  still  surly  and  bitter. 
He  dealt  with  tangible  facts,  not  with 
supernatural  phenomena ;  but  he  con 
trolled  himself  wonderfully,  and  con 
gratulated  the  baron. 

"  Baron  Franz  Porzig,"  said  Mr. 
Moran,  arising  and  offering  his  hand  and 
for  the  first  time  calling  the  prisoner 
by  his  right  name,  "  there  ought  never 


Gentlemen  !"  demanded  the  Baron,  "have  I  won  my 
wager  V  " — Page  162. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  163 

to  have  been  a  doubt  concerning  your 
identity.  We  all  knew  you  personally, 
and  of  your  worth  as  chief  executive 
officer  and  largest  shareholder  of  our 
ranch.  It  was  our  duty  to  have  sup 
ported  you  in  your  trying  ordeal  instead 
of  spurning  you.  But  you  confronted 
us  with  an  extraordinary  and  supernat 
ural  phenomenon,  and  you  were  legally 
dead,  dead,  dead.  We  seemed  to  have 
no  alternative  but  to  let  you  work  your 
way  out,  and  that  seemed  impossible. 
In  that  operation  you  have  had  the 
assistance  of  the  watch-dogs  of  the  press, 
the  guardians  of  the  personal  liberty 
the  rights,  justice,  and  equity  of  all 


164  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

mankind.  We  owe  to  you  an  apology 
greater  than  was  ever  man's  due,  and 
we  tender  it  in  a  spirit  of  contrition 
and  yet  of  congratulation." 

"  I  accept  the  apology,  gentlemen, 
and  suggest  that  we  now  discuss  the  re 
organization  of  the  ranch." 

"Gentlemen,"  remarked  Mr.de  Land, 
at  this  juncture,  "  let  us  lunch  and  re 
sume  our  conversation  at  the  table. 
We  seem  to  have  a  being  in  our  pres 
ence  who  has  been  killed  elsewhere, 
and  we  need  food  to  sustain  the  ordeal 
of  investigation." 

The  lunch  passed  pleasantly.  Mr. 
Moran  inquired  if  the  baron  had  any 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone,  165 

plans  for  the  reorganization  of  the  com 
pany's  affairs. 

"  I  was  thinking,"  said  the  baron, 
pleasantly,  "that  since  we  have  noth 
ing  left  but  our  lands,  we  had  best 
sell." 

"And  give  up  the  business?" 

"  Not  at  all.  We  can  invest  our  in 
surance  money  and  'the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  elsewhere.  We  may  have  to  assess 
ourselves  largely,  but  it  will  pay." 

"Where  should  we  locate?" 

"  Out  of  the  cyclone  area,  by  all 
means.  There  are  plenty  of  lands  in 
the  middle  South  where  only  zephyrs 
blow.  We  can  get  a  million  acres  in 


1 66  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone 

Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  or  even  in 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  for  from  $i 
per  acre  upwards.  These  lands  are 
mostly  timbered,  and  the  timber  could 
be  cut  and  sold  for  more  than  the  lands 
would  cost.  Forest  lands  have  a  very 
rich  soil,  and  along  the  Louisville 
and  Nashville  Railroad  are  richest 
blue-grass  lands  extant,  which  produce 
the  finest  crops  and  stock. 

"  There  is  profit  on  beef  at  present  of 
about  sixteen  cents  per  pound.  During 
the  recent  troubles  of  the  cattlemen  the 
beef  business  gradually  fell  into  the 
hands  of  four  Chicago  monopolists, 
who  now  have  the  public  at  their 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  167 

mercy  and  are  daily  coining  fortunes 
on  dressed 'beef.  Great  droughts  in  the 
Southwest,  and  blizzards  in  the  West 
and  Northwest,  causing  a  loss  of  from 
thirty  to  sixty  per  cent  of  the  cattle, 
compelled  the  ranchmen  to  rush  their 
herds  to  Chicago  and  sell  out  at  any 
price,  to  save  what  they  had.  The  *  Big 
Four '  of  that  city  purchased  the  bulk  of 
the  cattle  west  of  the  Mississippi  at  a 
ridiculously  low  figure,  which  gave 
them  control  of  the  market.  Then  the 
'  Big  Four '  put  the  cattle  out  on  safe 
pasturage,  through  their  agents,  and 
have  held  the  animals  for  slaughter  at 
their  own  time  and  price.  You  pay 


1 68  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

the  cattle  trust  twenty-eight  cents  per 
pound  here  in  New  York  for  ordinary 
beef,  while  in  the  villages  throughout 
the  State  the  local  marketmen  sell  the 
beef  raised  in  their  vicinity  for  a  shil 
ling,  and  at  a  decent  profit.  It  is  our 
opportunity  to  operate  independently 
and  on  a  large  scale.  We  can  buy 
cheaply  the  rich  lands  of  the  South. 
We  can  stock  our  new  ranch  with  small 
purchases  among  the  farmers  who  are, 
at  this  season  of  the  year,  on  account  of 
the  scarcity  of  fodder,  selling  at  from 
five  to  ten  dollars  per  head,  and,  for 
comparatively  small  money,  may  soon 
be  able  to  compete  with  the  '  Big  Four/ 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone..  169 

or  compel  them  to  let  us  in  the  trust. 
Further,  the  market  of  England  is  con 
trolled  by  not  more  than  fourteen  men, 
and  that  is  the  reason  why  foreign  ship 
ments  of  cattle  are  invariably  made  at  a 
loss.  Whenever  cattle  go  abroad  they 
cannot  get  a  good  sale  because  the  Lon 
don  trust  will  not  let  them  in  their 
markets,  small  and  big.  The  trust  is 
the  only  purchaser,  and  it  won't  buy. 
The  consequence  is  that  American  cat 
tle  are  sold  on  shipboard  under  quaran 
tine  regulations,  imposed  at  the  in 
stance  of  the  trust,  and  for  any  figure 
the  agents  of  the  trust  are  disposed  to 
offer.  I  suggest  that  we  make  an  alii- 


170  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

ance  with  the  London  trust,  which  will 
enable  us  to  control  the  shipments  of 
American  cattle  absolutely.  In  so  do 
ing  we  will  get  our  fingers  on  the 
throats  of  the  '  Big  Four '  and  have 
the  foreign  pudding  baked  in  our 
oven." 

As  the  gentlemen  left  the  house,  it 
was  observed  that  they  agreed  that  the 
baron  was  of  the  stuff  of  which  money 
kings  are  made,  and  had  adopted  him 
as  an  acquisition  to  their  brain  power 
as  well  as  their  financial  sway. 


'•'  For  several  days  the  Baron  was  invisible/'— Page  171. 


VII. 

FOR  several  days  the  baron  was  in 
visible  to  the  de  Lands.  He  sent  down 
excuses  to  the  effect  that  he  was  both 
recuperating  and  giving  some  atten 
tion  to  the  enormous  pressure  on  him 
caused  by  the  recent  crisis  in  his 
affairs.  Meantime  Miss  Marie  was 
greatly  dispirited  and  depressed.  She 
felt  that  she  had  been  cruelly  insulted, 

but  even   more  by  the  baron's   silence 

171 


172  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

than  his  rash  wager.  The  wager,  after 
all,  was  a  compliment  to  her ;  and  when 
she  asked  her  father  if  he  intended  to 
hold  her  to  it,  he  merely  asked  in  re 
ply  if  she  would  have  held  the  baron 
to  his  contract  had  he  lost  and  sent 
him  out  in  the  world  a  beggar. 

One  day,  to  soothe  her  wounded 
feelings,  she  went  to  the  piano  and 
softly  played  the  "Traumerei."  At  its 
conclusion  she  felt  a  slight  sensation  as 
if  some  invisible  hand  had  touched 
her.  Looking  down,  much  to  her 
dismay,  and  yet  with  a  thrill  of  pleas 
ure,  she  beheld  the  Baron  Porzig  on 
his  knees  and  face  by  her  side,  his 


n 


She  felt  that  she  had  been  cruelly  insulted. — Pa</e  173 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  173 

head  buried  in  the  long  train  of  her 
gown,  which  he  held  to  his  lips. 

"  Rise,  Baron  Porzig !" 

"  Not  until  you  pardon  me,'  he  said, 
not  looking  up. 

"  Why  should  I  forgive  so  base  an 
effort  to  trade  me  before  so  many 
people  ?"  Her  voice  was  firm  though 
gentle. 

"  I  intended  no  wrong,  beautiful 
lady.  For  an  instant  I  remembered 
only  our  Prussian  customs  of  marriage 
contracts.  I  was  obtuse  and  rash.  It 
was  because  I  love  you  so  much.  For 
give  me." 

"  Then  rise,    Baron    Porzig !     A  wo- 


1/4  -A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

man  can  forgive  anything  that  is  done 
for  love  of  her." 

He  would  have  seized  her  hand,  but 
she  motioned  him  away. 

"  Is  it  a  Prussian  custom  to  fall  in 
love  and  demand  a  maid's  hand  all  in 
a  few  days  ?"  she  asked. 

"  Love  is  not  of  growth  like  a  weed," 
he  replied.  "  One's  love  always  ex 
ists  in  the  ideal  of  the  brain.  Some 
times  we  never  meet  the  affinities  of 
our  ideals,  but  the  love  for  them  lives 
within  us  whether  the  object  is  visible 
or  not.  Love  is  not  produced  by  ex 
ternals,  such  as  beauty  or  the  lack  of 
it,  wealth,  or  anv  circumstances  what- 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  175 

soever.  It  is  an  irresistible  and  un 
known  quantity,  which  manifests  itself 
in  spite  of  ourselves.  That  unexplain- 
able  something  about  you  for  which 
there  is  no  description  or  words  makes 
my  heart  say,  '  Here  is  your  affinity." 
It  matters  not  whether  I  ever  saw  you 
before.  In  you  at  once  I  discover  the 
ideal  which  my  heart  has  ever  adored. 
Say  you  will  not  leave  me  alone,  me 
of  the  cyclone,  me  of  the  maelstrom, 
torn  from  my  home  in  the  storm,  and 
hurled  through  space  at  your  feet,  borne 
by  the  very  elements  in  sympathy  with 
my  heart's  own  idolatry.  Say  you  will 


1 76  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

not  leave  me  in  a  night  of  blackness  and 
despair  worse  than  the  last." 

He  took  her  hand  this  time,  and  she 
did  not  remove  it.  He  pressed  his 
lips  again  and  again  on  her  beautiful 
and  shapely  fingers;  she  did  not  re 
pulse  him.  She  only  looked  at  him 
with  wonder  and  awe,  the  man  borne 
to  her  feet  by  the  elements,  he  of  the 
cyclone,  he  of  the  maelstrom. 

"  Love/'  she  said  gently,  "  is  all  you 
have  pictured  it  to  be.  Is  there  not 
an  axiom  that  no  two  bodies  can  oc 
cupy  the  same  space  at  the  same  time? 
Love  is  the  disproof  of  that,  because, 


"He  pressed  his  lips  again  and  again  on  her  beautiful  and 
shapely  fingers."— Pa(de  176. 


A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone.  177 

if  real,  it  blends  two  lives  into  one. 
I  have  never  seen  the  man  whose 
life  and  mine  could  blend" — the  man 
looked  up  with  a  glance  of  agony, 
which  cut  her  like  a  blade—"  unless 
it  be  you." 

In  an  instant  his  face  lighted  with 
joy. 

"  Marie,  dear,  won't  you  be  merciful 
and  grant  to  me  the  results  of  my  wager, 
of  your  own  free-will  ?" 

She  went  close  to  him  and  inclined 
her  stately  form— she  was  taller  than 
he  —  and  placed  her  beautiful  arms 
around  his  neck. 


i/8  A  Ride  on  a  Cyclone. 

"I  could    not  be  less  merciful  than 
the  elements    which   brought    you    to 


me. 


She  went  close  to  him  and  inclined  her  stately  form 

she    was   taller   than   he— and    placed    her   beautiful    arms 
around  his  neck.—  Page  177. 


8  727; 


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